Gundam 00: Phoenix
Introductions
United Kingdom, February 11,
Gathered in a assembly room were the main leaders of the Union, AEU, and the HRL as well as military officials who all looked at a video of three new Gundams cutting down HRL forces in space and Pakistan's Thar Desert.
After they had finished watching, talks began between the three major superpowers.
"This is extremely disturbing. Just when we thought we had put an end to the Gundam threat, more of them appear," the President of the Union said.
The HRL prime minister then spoke, "We are fortunate they are not part of Celestial Being, or we may have never defeated them. Still, knowing that they belong to the paramilitary group known as the Rising Phoenix that has constantly disrupted our operations, from our shipping lanes to our factories, and now they interfere with operations in other countries is most concerning."
The Union president face hardened. "No matter how hard we try, no matter how many sacrifices are made by our brave soldiers, we just can't eliminate the Gundam threat. Even if they aren't part of Celestial Being, the fact they're part of a well trained and armed paramilitary organization that answers to almost no one cannot be ignored if they decide to extend their operations from HRL territory to that of the Union and AEU."
"It's even worse that we do not know their true fighting strength, we've only located one of their bases and that attack we've just launched failed miserably. There could possibly be multiple bases located throughout the entire world that we don't know of," a HRL general then added.
"We need to take action now. If we linger to long on this decision it could cost us dearly," a Union representative then said. "We need to contain this threat before the Rising Phoenix makes its move."
"Yes, but if we attack too quickly we could possibly be sacrificing the lives of our soldiers with little gain in return. We should wait for more new mobile suits to come off the assembly line before we launch an attack. Once we have enough we should be able to overwhelm them," another representative of the AEU then replied.
"Then we should fortify all our military installations, that way we should be able to hold onto most of our military assets while our forces engage with the enemy. We've already got new machines being built and coming off the production line," a ranking official of the HRL then quickly stated.
"Already, how did you manage to build something so complicated in just a matter of days?" one of the AEU members questioned.
"Our industries have been working around the clock at ever since the schematics for the new machines were sent out. Entire industries have been dedicated to the production of new machines to counter-act the Gundams. It is our number one concern. Do not worry, however, we will supply the UN with these weapons. None will be without these vital machines," came the man's answer.
"That still doesn't help the fact there is only one location that we know. There is also a chance they may begin relocating and then we'll never be able to find them," the AEU representative said.
"Then we will have to track them from where they came, eventually they're bound to make a mistake and lead us to another one of their bases."
"For all we know there could be only that single base in the Middle-East." one of the lower ranking officers from the Union then spoke. "We may just be wasting time and equipment wasting time trying to locate bases that may not even exist."
One of the HRL generals then spoke up. "Unlikely, it doesn't support the tactics they use. It would be foolhardy to have only a single base that is required to keep their Carrier supplied," he disagreed. "It would also be impossible for them to conduct raids in places like Russia so quickly without being detected."
One of the AEU generals then turned to him. "Do they do anything that may give us some leads to their locations from where they came from?"
"Nothing that we've been able to trace," the HRL general said shaking his head.
"In the end everyone will have to get involved in this matter, there are no exceptions. If the UN Forces were created to bring a unified front to combat the Gundams then combat the Gundams it shall," the AEU representative. "Preparations must be taken against the Rising Phoenix; they cannot be allowed to possess such weapons no matter what their agenda is."
Everyone in the assembly nodded their heads in approval showing that the Rising Phoenix organization was far too dangerous that they were now in possession of Gundams. They did not want something worse then the previous armed interventions.
After a few more discussions about the situation it agreed that the Rising Phoenix would be listed as one of the organizations to be the target of the new UN Forces something which all military officials could approve to. A bill was then presented to the major leaders of the super powers who began signing it. The whole world would now be involved in the conflict against the Rising Phoenix.
However, unknown to the entire assembly was a spy from had been watching and listening over the entire discussion via a hidden network put in place.
The spy then picked up the line with superior after the meeting had ended. "It looks like you're right, the world is going to be after us, you're sure this will change anything?"
"It's a start, at least their mind is set."
"So should I getting working on finding who's up to what?" the spy then replied.
"Get to it, I'm not holding you back."
"Understood," the spy acknowledged.
Thar Desert, February 11, Phoenix Carrier
Nena waited sitting on her bed tying her hair back to its usual style after having finished taking a shower. The spare clothes were not great, more military fashion than anything.
The lights were still off, but she didn't care. There was no point of turning them on for soon she would be finally be able to leave this room.
She just stared at the floor before lying back in her bed. Her mind repeatedly kept showing the events from the day before. Michael being shot before he could do anything; Johann had tried hold off the man who stole the Zwei only to get killed in front of her eyes; Exia saving her at the last moment and battling the Zwei before suddenly glowing red and moving at ungodly speeds, and getting captured by three new Gundams. She felt like crying every time she thought about her brothers, but she had to now stay strong, it was only her now and there was no point of weeping anymore, nothing she could do would bring them back. All she could do now was survive.
That man who had killed her brothers, Ali Al-Saachez, he had beaten them so easily. Was he extremely skilled in mobile suit combat or was it that they were just inferior pilots? If had it had been both, she did not know what to think.
Her thoughts then went over the interventions Team Trinity had done. It seemed as if they were only able to destroy most of their enemies because they had superior machines, when those GN-X mobile suits came out they couldn't shoot down even one in ordinary head to head combat, which was supported by the fact that a modified Flag had managed to steal the Ein's beam saber and damaged it in combat forcing them to retreat. The pilot of that machine was good.
She was going to have to do better the next time she faced up against those GN-X mobile suits, and Michael and Johann's killer, Ali Al-Saachez. They need to be avenged.
Her fist clenched as soon as the memories of what that man did flooded into her mind. The next time she saw him she was going to kill him, but before that he would suffer, for he deserved it and it probably would still be merciful compared to what he had done to her. She hated that man with a passion; he had taken the only family she had while actually enjoying fighting and killing her brothers off. What kind of person could actually live like that? Why would such people be created in the first place if all they would bring was death and destruction without remorse?
Thinking it over she then began to wonder what the meaning of her existence was. Was it just to fight and nothing else because as far as her life went that's all she had done.
She had yet to actually spend any decent time in any populated place that did not involve any sort of business. She just wanted to have fun and enjoy life, not fighting in the battlefield. Maybe her lack of communications with other people is what made her eager to fight and causing destruction because she never knew how other people felt if they lost a loved one, but now ever since her brother's deaths she wasn't as willing to head back into the battlefield.
With a frown she shook these thoughts away.
The door then slid open as a man came in through the door; it was the same man that was beside Wesker only this time he was not dressed in his flight uniform.
"So you finally ready to leave this room?" he said leaning against the door way. "Follow me."
Nena got up and stretched as she exited the room following the man.
He didn't appear much older than her, and he was kinda cute in her opinion, although it didn't mean she would go after him. He seemed too strict, by the book, and not one of those reckless people like Setsuna.
He led her onto the lift before it then began to descend.
"I don't think we've officially met." said the man. "I'm Daveral Long and I'll be your one of your teammates from now on; you'll meet with the other two when we reach the hanger."
"And you're the pilot of which Gundam that attacked me?" she asked.
"I would be the one that piloted the Lancaster the Gundam that fired at you first and the one you managed to close in on," he replied. "So you're feeling alright enough to pilot a Gundam?"
Nena nodded her head. "Not that I have much of a choice," was all she said as the lift continued up.
The lift then came to a stop and opened up revealing a large room overlooking the hanger. There were two people in the room; one was a male with messy chestnut coloured hair, the other was a woman with orange hair. Unlike Daveral, they wore more conventional, military-grade clothing, probably for convenience.
Everyone then turned to them as soon as she took a single step out of the lift.
"Well guys," Daveral began. "Here's who's going to be with us on our next mission."
"Name's Flint Devard pilot of the Zesus," the man then said before he gave a whistle as his eyes looked her over. "Never knew someone that could do such terrible things could be so damn pretty."
"Always looking for the crazy one," the woman then muttered to him before looking at Nena as if she were a threat. "You best watch yourself; I'm going to make it clear I don't trust you and if you do anything wrong I'm going to make sure you pay for any mistakes by shooting you down. You Gundam Meisters have messed up a lot, especially you."
The woman then turned to look outside the observation deck.
"Are you jealous because I commented her and not you?" the man said to the woman with a chuckle. "You don't have to be such an ass to other people."
"Just shut up Flint unless you like people wiping out innocents."
"Don't mind her," Daveral then said. "Her names Helana Sash the pilot of the Variant."
"Is she always like this to everyone?" Nena then asked him surpirsed by the person's rudeness.
"Actually, she usually doesn't talk at all," Daveral then replied, "but I'll make sure she doesn't take things to seriously. Last thing we need are friendly fire incidents"
Daveral then picked up a remote connected to an overhead monitor. "You might want to know something," Daveral then said as he switched on the monitor that was turned to the news with the UN Forces announcing that all measures were going to be taken to eliminate the Rising Phoenix organization. "The entire world is going to be after us, so you better perform your best, got it?"
Nena nodded her head in response, though in reality, she was still unsure if she could even do her best. Ever since the appearance of those GN Drive mobile suits her confidence in her abilities had been shaken. She guessed she would just hope for the best and slowly improve her abilities through actual combat. She needed to survive, after all.
The intercom in the room then came on. "All Gundam pilots suit up and prepare to head out, mission orders will be sent once you're set to go."
"So much for introductions," Flint then commented as the four pilots began moving back onboard the lift. "Wonder what they're going to assign us now?"
When the lift came to a halt everyone went their separate ways to their respective genders locker room to get fitted for combat.
Helana disappeared, saying nothing, but continued to look at her with discontent.
As she got suited into a rather heavy flight suit, she wondered if the Drei was seven repaired. It had taken extensive damage, not much was really left after that previous engagement with the other three Gundams.
She then wondered what happened to her Haro, they had taken it away from her, but then again it wasn't that big of a problem and she wouldn't have to put up with its rudeness anymore and its only main point was to either send or receive data so she should be alright. Still, it would be nice to have one for help.
She exited the room to see the others were already heading down the corridor to the lift all fully dressed and prepared.
She ran to catch up managing to reach the others just when the lift door was about to close.
"You trying to get squashed by the door?" Flint asked as she just managed to get in at the last second. "We don't want someone dead before the battle even starts."
She didn't say anything as the lift began its way to the hanger.
Nena noticed that Helana kept eyeing her as if she was going to do something that would threaten someone; she must have really meant she didn't trust her. This could mean trouble because if she meant what she said she was going to be hard pressed to perform perfectly to any mission assigned to them. What right did Helana have to judge her?
Carrying on, Daveral and Flint talked to each other, it appeared Daveral was intent on making sure no one made mistakes and that Flint obeyed orders.
"Jeez, I've heard you the first time Daveral must you be a broken record?" Flint said to Daveral.
"I don't care, besides although you understand orders, there's a chance you may forget them while you're in combat having your so called fun." Daveral replied. "How is fighting people even fun?"
"Keep your skills sharp, show how good you are," Flint then said with shrug. "I don't like killing people, but you also got to prove you're capable on the battlefield."
"No stupid glory moments, alright? We've got a lot to do."
Flint nodded his head. "I got it." he said as he turned his head to face the entrance.
When the lift reached the hanger everyone got off board and proceeded down the stairs from the observation deck to the hanger bay.
She followed the others and before she knew it, the others had already separated to their respective machines inside the massive hanger which was filled with the noise of machinery being used and personnel shouting or talking to each other.
Nena looked around to see standing in its own docking centre was the Drei. There were no notable changes aside from the weaponry and that the beam sabers were no longer mounted on the shoulder.
The shield pod on the right arm was considerably longer and wider not to mention its thickness was about doubled. The GN handgun's barrel was abit wider while there appeared to be a set of canisters underneath the handgun.
"You've just got clearance to use this thing again from the captain," an engineer standing near the Drei told her before he handed her a small portable computer terminal that could just be held by one hand. "This contains everything you need to know about the modifications done to the Drei, as well as any information you may be wondering about, anyways you're now officially a member of the Rising Phoenix, you better not get this thing totalled it took alot of parts to get this thing back into full working order. Also, do something right for a change."
It seemed Helana was not the only one who had taken note of her actions.
"You can count on me," Nena replied, rolling her eyes when the engineer was not looks as she climbed up to a set of stairs that led to a catwalk that would allow her to get on board the Drei.
Once she got behind the controls of the Gundam she began to get her helmet on then closing down the blue visor as the cockpit began to close and the machine began to come online. She looked at the small computer that the engineer had given her and immediately began seeing what had been done to the Drei.
Looking over the changes, there were a considerable amount of improvements that had been done to the machine. Upgunned GN handgun with even faster fire rate, shield pod could carry back-up equipment and ammunition for other mobile suits, jamming pods that could be deployed to redirect missiles, and what appeared to be special canisters that could be launched from underneath the GN handgun from smoke rounds to cainsters that weaken particle beams something that she thought wasn't be possible at the moment. The group must have been expecting combat against other Gundams or GN driven mobile suits for awhile.
Something then caught her eye. The GN Drive had been replaced.
She quickly skimmed through the information finding out the Drei now had a near limitless operating time similar to Celestial Being, but suffered from poorer particle regeneration rate and the beam weaponry was weaker due to the particles no longer being treated as they used to, she guessed that was why the Drei's main armament, the GN handgun was upgunned.
Daveral then appeared on her screen who was just closing down his visors. "So is everything set on your end?"
"Appears to be," Nena said still skimming through the computer.
"Better put that away for we're going to be moving out soon," Daveral told her as she just took one last look before shutting it off and putting it away and manned the controls.
The small blue screen then popped up infront of her saying she was clear to leave the hanger.
She followed behind the Lancaster, and as soon as the Drei exited the hanger it took to the skies with the other three Gundams.
There were a considerable amount of wrecked Tierens lying on the ground while a long blackened trench stretched for several hundred metres, it wasn't that wide but it was deep. Some of the Tierens still had smoke coming out of them. Must of been a battle last night that she wasn't told about.
"Mission orders are now coming in, make sure you read over them carefully," an advisor said through the communications line.
Nena looked at the small blue screen that had just popped up again which explained what the plan was. The Variant and Zesus were to engage a column of mobile suits heading to reinforce the base that was located last night while Drei and the Lancaster were to head directly to the enemy base and take out the mobile suit after that the rest will be left up to a force tasked with mopping up the area and securing any supplies that might be found before levelling the place.
Daveral then appeared on the screen again. "Nena I guess you're with me, alright then here's the plan." A small map then popped up where Daveral's image had once been. There was a designated point outside the base. "You going to start the engagement after I've set up outside the base, I'll provide long-range support fire with the Lancaster's beam cannon while you take out mobile suits that begin to deploy."
"Some plan," she responded without any questions in her mind as the four Gundams began to disperse towards their designated points.
They weren't moving too fast for the Lancaster's slower speed forced her to move at relatively the same speed, lest she accidently leave Daveral behind in the dust without knowing it.
"Can't you move any faster?" Nena asked him after a few minutes, at this rate the others were probably going to be finished their objective due to their faster speed.
She just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible; the less time she spent inside a Gundam the better.
"Don't blame me, blame the designers who wanted a walking fortress," Daveral replied. "At least it means you can hide behind me."
Nena remembered those words before she said something to Daveral. "Do you know why Helana hates me so much?"
"You'll just have to get used to her. Maybe eventually you'll be friends with her." Daveral said to her jokingly at first. "But honestly, I don't know, but you've got to put that all aside."
"If she does it first," she replied softly.
Daveral then asked her a question. "Did you know that Celestial Being was defeated not too long ago?"
"What?" This was surprising and new information to her.
"Celestial Being is essentially no more. Their ship was heavily damaged in the fight, one of their Gundams was captured, but I don't know about the other two, although it was said they were both destroyed."
This was something that was hard to believe, she had never expected them to be defeated. Did Setsuna and all his other comrades perish in the fight, or were there still some alive? She didn't even get a chance to thank him for saving her.
"Is it possible that some of them survived?" she then asked.
"I don't know, but let's focus on what's at hand, enemy base should be coming up soon," he answered.
Nena looked to see the silhouette of an enemy base over the sea of sand. Her sights zoomed in, it looked like they had been detected. Mobile suits were beginning to leave the hanger and take up defensive positions.
"Alright let's do this," Daveral said as he took a deep breath. "You ready?"
Nena nodded her head. "Ready," she replied as the two Gundams moved in on the base.
Thar Desert, February 11
Wesker thought about his time in the military, going far back to his first mission eight-teen years ago when he was the leader of a small Special Forces squad, yet it was the battle that had changed him the most.
The battle was between a large anti-government organization and AEU troops in Africa making sure nothing disrupted construction of the Orbital Elevators. The conflict happened to be was when the AEU still used fighter planes and tanks, Hellions still being on the drawing board which were desperately needed since the previous AEU mobile suit was not even worth their cost.
It was in those battles that he had gone up the ranks from a Sergeant to First Lieutenant, partially because of his leadership skills and partially because those above him in the chain-of-command were either wounded, or killed. They needed men with experience not fresh officers out of training.
"Kail," he spoke. "Do you remember our first mission? The one where we were sent to eliminate anti-government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo?"
"I don't think any of those battles have ever left my mind, we've lost alot of good people, Jonathan, Paulis, Murry, the list goes on," Kail replied. Remembering the fallen still saddened him to this day. "Damn Anfs made short work of anyone that got in its way during urban combat."
Cray then spun around in his chair to face them. "How did that conflict turn out? I was still a kid when that happened," Cray said over to them. "I was never too interested about what happened in that conflict till you've mentioned it. Sounds brutal."
"We won, and defeated most of the anti-government forces after about a year of fighting. It was when the Dragonfly gunship was still in service, and if it weren't for them those Anfs would've torn us to pieces; we didn't have enough hand-held AT weapons issued out, AEU mobile suits fared poorly and were unreliable, so we were left to rely on older equipment," Wesker answered as he began having a flashback of that conflict eight-teen years ago.
Some memories would never leave the mind.
-Flashback-
Wesker looked as the sun began to come up over a hill, the rays being deflected off his tactical sunglasses as bullets flew past him and he ran with his squad of six, forward towards the enemy using cover on the approach.
Everywhere there were people fighting and dying in this large desolate, forsaken village. Everyone who had not left their homes was either dead or part of the militia that they were fighting against. It was a nightmare for those who had not experienced combat before, some AEU troops were breaking down from what they've witnessed. Only a few teams were actually able to keep everyone together and advance on their objective. Their only support so far were tanks that fared poorly against the Anf, but that was mainly due to how dated the machines were.
"Follow me, we must get to that position!" Wesker shouted to his men as they moved through the ruins of a building, the sound of rifle fire filling the air. "Kail, status those gunships?" he then asked as everyone began taking up positions behind a thick, tall stone wall. "We've don't have enough ammunition to take on all of them." He looked at an Anf that a tank had managed to take down only for its victory to be short-lived. An explosion rocked the surrounding area as debris could be seen from where the tank had once been flying into the air, destroyed by another Anf.
"They're still on the way sir; they've run into trouble at the hills surrounding the west side!" Kail shouted as gunfire then began chipping away at the wall they were hiding behind.
Wesker glanced out one end of the wall, looking to see that there were infantry be in the small stone building ahead of them, trying to pin them down, while another squad of anti-government troops began to move around to try and flank them.
"What did you see?" one of his squad mates asked him.
"We've got infantry in the building ahead of us; they've got troops coming around to flank us from the left." Wesker told the soldier. "I suspect they're going to take up positions in the remains of that building left of us," He pointed out towards the ruined building to the left of them. "Throw a grenade at that position when I give the word then a smoke at the position ahead of us, after that move up and eliminate the enemies in the building ahead of us."
"Roger that," one of his squad members acknowledged as he readied an underslung grenade launcher.
Wesker waited till the silhouettes of the enemy troops came into his sight before shouted. "Now!"
The soldier threw his grenade while another member threw a smoke grenade over the wall.
The squad then began to move up as bullets either whizzed past them. Wesker felt a bullet penetrate through something in his vest but he continued to move up without slowing, though pain did kick in. When he had a moment he checked to find that his portable GPS in his vest had been damaged, he was really going to have to rely on Kail who was the only other person with a GPS.
As soon as they managed to reach the building they breached the building through the wooden door, kicking it down and gunning down whoever was inside. It was a matter of milliseconds before all that he and his team saw were a bunch of bloody corpses. On instinct, the squad then took up positions in the building for shelter.
"Anf, coming towards our position!" Kail then shouted to the team.
"Break out the AT weapons, Murry!" Wesker then barked to the squad's heavy weapons specialist who got a large heavy case off his back and opened it revealing a missile launcher.
"There!" then Kail pointed towards an Anf through one of the broken windows.
Murry moved to the window that Kail was at and begin locking onto the mobile suit.
The Anf was engaging an enemy tank. A shell whizzed past it as it began to open fire the sound of an explosion soon told them that another tank had been destroyed. It then began to turn around to face them.
"Aim for the torso!" Wesker exclaimed as he then turned around and opened fired with his rifle killing more enemy troops who had come to see what had happened to their comrades in the building. All of them gunned down outside the entrance of the building.
There was the sound of the missile launcher launching its missile. The missile managed to penetrate to Anf in the torso and detonated taking a large chunk out of the machines torso before causing the machine to fall in into two.
Suddenly Murry then fell to the ground holding his hand against arm, blood beginning to pour out of his bullet wound.
"God damn, I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding!" came his cry.
Bullets began to fly through the windows as Wesker shouted for everyone to get down. After those few moments everyone began to open fire through the windows and at the attackers.
"Paulis, go treat Murry! We'll cover you!" Wesker ordered and with a nod of his head, the team's field medic got to working on patching their wounded teammate up.
Wesker couldn't see much aside from the flashes of gun barrels and the silhouettes of the enemy in the distance, but he could tell there were lots of them by the amount of rounds that flew into the structures walls. They were lucky these troops were not that well trained mostly just unloading all their rounds without aiming, although he did notice there were some mercenaries in the conflict judging by their silhouettes which were bulkier and the distinct sound of their rifles not to mention they were completely out of place with the standard enemy troops who were a rag-tag group, while the mercs were in matching combat fatigues all fully equipped and prepared for war.
The anti-government forces had hired mercenaries as trainers and soldiers so their infantry forces stood a better chance versus the AEU's Special Forces teams, which were heading to take out a vital supply base not much further up in the village.
"There's too many of them out there we can't hold this position much longer!" the squads machine gunner known as Chapel shouted. "They're bringing in heavier weapons, appears to be RPGs! We're going to get blown out if we don't move our arse!"
An explosion then rattled the building as a good chunk a wall collapsed in bullets spraying through the new opening in hopes of hitting someone.
Wesker let out a growl before he then ordered someone to throw a grenade at the back wall of the building. One of his men immediately threw a high-explosive grenade with everyone getting as far away as possible while still in some cover.
The grenade managed to cause a hole in the poorly maintained wall, large enough for them to go through.
"Alright let's get out of here!" Wesker then yelled as signalled for everyone to go through with him being last as the squad went back outside and into the open not sure what to expect.
-End Flashback-
Wesker stopped thinking about that conflict as he looked to see the four Gundams get to work on the objectives
The Variant and Zesus were already engaging mobile suits in the sky and on the ground. The Variant keeping its distance while the Zesus just tore through the enemy formation before backing off popping smoke to cover itself before striking from a different angle. The Tierens were just being destroyed one after another.
He then looked to see what the Drei and Lancaster were up to. The Drei was taking shots at Tierens that were behind their leg shields, firing their smoothbore cannons. The Drei unleashed a small volley of missiles taking out the machine's shield before the Lancaster took them down with a single beam shot from afar.
"Well so far so good," Kail said. "Should we begin to deploy the force for mop up operation?"
"We should, have an Ace fighter squadron escort them to the target. Have them scour the base for any supplies as soon as mop up operations are complete," Wesker instructed.
"Understood," Kail replied as he began typing the orders into the terminal and sent them to the hanger's command post telling them to launch the assault force with an Ace squadron.
Wesker then took out his pocket watch. "Soon," he then began. "Soon we'll be at war with the three super powers." He then looked up and through the bridge. "Once they decide working together permanently is in their best interest, those who are corrupt will be exposed, and this world will be fully unified."
Thar Desert, February 11
Daveral watched as the Drei took out a Tieren, before being forced to evade shots being fired by another one which hid behind its shield. He was currently overwatching the base from a sand dune overlooking the base taking shots at any machine that came into his sights.
He pressed down on the trigger, firing the heavy beam cannon which created a large hole right through the shield and into the mobile suit torso before it exploded a second later.
There weren't many targets left, these were all machines that had taken part in last night's battle and right now he could see some were still in bad shape. Some were still missing parts like their shields and arms.
Once the mop-up force arrived, the remaining HRL personnel would have to let go of their spare equipment. He hoped they did not resist. No one should die after the battle has been won.
He continued to take out mobile suits that were firing at the Drei from long-range; so far nothing had come up close enough to engage him. They were too busy with the Drei to try and even reach him.
He didn't like to see Nena taking all the shots for him especially that it was her first day, but then again she should be used to this judging by the interventions that she and her brothers had done, she could take care of herself. Also good for her to know support stood by and would aid as needed. She was in a different team now, but it still had to be something she could rely on.
"Shouldn't be many more of them left," Daveral sad, taking note of the downed machines. "After we've taken them out can pull back to base, the mop up force shouldn't be too far off," he told Nena.
"Roger," she acknowledged as she fired back at a Tieren that was shooting at her taking it out.
After another minute or so the base was filled with either smothering mobile suits or ones that had been damaged to the point where they were combat ineffective. A white flare then came out from the bases headquarters showing that they surrendered.
He surveyed the area, no collateral damage had been down, only the mobile suits had gone down. This would make for a decent base with its large amount of hangers for mobile suits, but the fact it was exposed, left something to be desired. It was probably going to be destroyed by a squadron of bombers after the mop-up force has gathered what they can and gave the survivors a warning.
"Well, the rest is up to them now," Daveral stated as he saw Viper tanks with APCs and a squadron of Ace fighters flying overhead heading towards the base. "Although I don't really see a point."
Suddenly Helana popped up on the screen. "All targets have been destroyed, returning to base."
"Copy that," Daveral responded. "We're on our way back as well." He then swapped channels. "Alright, Nena, we're getting out of here," he told her as the Lancaster waited for the Drei to get over to its location before the two machines began heading back to base.
"Well that didn't take long," Nena said to him.
"If it did then something's wrong." Daveral answered.
"I guess that's true." She then gave him a curious look. "We aren't doing any more missions today are we?"
Daveral shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, but I wouldn't complain, just realize there are others who have it harder then you."
"Like who?" Nena asked.
"Well there's the infantry, but I'm not going to go into detail." he stated. "You'll have to find out for yourself. And I don't envy people who have to track Gundams, must be a nightmare for them."
A transmission came up from the mop up force. "The enemy base is now secure and all enemy personnel are being rounded up, we're now securing any supplies inside the base."
Daveral should be smiling. So far everything had gone well and no one on their side had to lose their lives, and they had a new teammate on their side. It was a good day, but he felt uncomfortable with his role and what they did. His parent were firm believers in the cause of things such as the Greater Good, but the newer generation could never always follow.
When the two finally landed inside the carrier Daveral looked to see the Zesus and Variant already in their docking stations, although he couldn't see the pilots of either.
He got out of the cockpit after taking off his helmet and rappelled down from his machine's cockpit, while he looked to his left to see Nena getting out of her machine and climbing onto the catwalk that was just moved right infront of the cockpit before walking down the stairs.
"Hey, you didn't get it scratched this time!" one of the engineers said as Daveral reached the bay floor.
"Do you want me to?" Daveral said back sounding as if the man was serious. "I can go smash this thing into a mountain or something."
The engineer laughed, "You'd probably tear through the mountain before it would actually scratch the machine." The engineer then leaned against wall. "So how was the battle?"
"One-sided," Daveral answered. "Although I let Nena take all the shots for me while I took my time shooting the enemy mobile suits from right outside their base. No damage was done to the base."
"Letting a support Gundam take all the shots for you, doesn't that sound kind of cruel when you're the one with all the armour?"
Daveral could only give a small laugh. "I know, but I might as well use the Lancaster what it's supposed to do, and besides she can take care of herself, or why else would Wesker allow her to join so quickly?"
"I suppose you're right, anyways it's back to work, you won't believe how much work it takes to get a replacement fighter assembled," the man turned his head looking towards a fighter that was being constructed in its docking bay.
"How many days would it take to finish an Ace fighter?" Daveral then asked.
"About a week or two depending on how many people actually work on it and that's just one," the engineer began to explain. "Getting a full squadron built is a pain in the ass, not saying our pilots get them wrecked all the time, but these things aren't cheap and they do take up spare parts that could be used for repairs."
"Hey, how did it go over there?" a voice then called out for Daveral.
Daveral recognized the voice as Flint's as he turned around to respond. "It went quite well, I don't think anyone took damage. How about you and Helana, how did that go?"
Flint put his arms behind his head a little hesitant to speak.
"Yeah, I got a few holes punched through the Zesus' legs and arms, but nothing serious and not much happened to the Variant. The enemy just began to run away after a few minutes of combat." Flint answered.
Daveral nodded his head as the two then began to head back up to the observation deck and to the lift.
"I've never seen Helana so look at anyone like that," Flint said over to him in a lower voice. "What's her deal with Nena anyways?"
"Don't now, but I think it's best to keep those two apart lest they tear themselves to pieces. Helana may be the one causing the problems, but I don't think Nena is what we would define as stable," Daveral stated. "If you ask me I think she hates Nena because of what she did before," he then continued.
As the two got to the observation deck they both soon saw Nena waiting beside one of the lift, waiting for it to arrive. She was skimming through her computer with her helmet cradled in her left arm. She just looked at the two before looking back at the computer screen.
"What are you reading about?" Daveral asked her.
"Just seeing the layout of this ship, I wanna know what is what before I actually go off to explore the ship," she replied as she looked up at him before staring back down at the screen.
After a few more moments the lift finally came down and everyone as well as a few other crew members got onboard.
When they finally reached the crew compartment they once again went their separate ways.
Daveral watched the others disappear from his sight before he proceeded to enter his room locking the door behind him. A moment of relaxation before the next mission.
Thar Desert, February 11
Nena looked walked down one of the many corridors onboard the ship. She had recently gotten something to eat and was now looking around the ship using the layout of the ship displayed by her computer as a guide.
So far she hadn't really seen anything interesting aside from the hanger. It was a ship, a big ship, but still a ship.
Someone then bumped into her shoulder. No apologies were made, yet Nena would have simply brushed it off were it not for the fact that she suddenly found herself pushed against the metallic wall.
Nena looked to see Helana casually walking away, although Nena could see looking back at her from the corner of her eye and those eyes showed a flicker of anger.
"She deserves it." Helana's voice carried through the hallways, though it was clear she had muttered to herself.
She felt like chasing after and punching Helana. What did she do to deserve this kind of treatment? What had she ever done to her, was it because she had a family member that was killed during one of her armed interventions or was it something else?
Nena then gave a sigh. There was no sense getting into a fight, it would only make things worse and she didn't want to suddenly be fired upon during one of those missions. Eventually she was going to find out why Helana hated her so much. Some way somehow. No way she would be getting blasted by a team mate over little things.
After regaining her composure she decided to find somewhere quiet onboard the ship, that was not her room, as she went along the corridor towards one of the lifts and headed up towards the ships open deck.
She wanted to be outside, it was better then being cooped in this ship all day, and although they were in a desert, she didn't mind.
When she got to the ships open deck, she leaned against the railing and watched the horizon, letting the time pass.