Gundam 00: Phoenix
Closing In
Arvineo, February 20, Outskirts of the Presidential Palace
"Son of a-" a Phoenix Ranger barely began only for his voice to become drowned out by an explosion as bullets whizzed past his head before he glanced over his right shoulder to signal additional soldiers to move up to his position in the crater he was in.
Quickly the men that were signalled moved up to the crater and jumped in as a tank behind them rocked the nearby area as it fired at a barricade where Arvineo loyalist were fortified, who were stopping Rising Phoenix soldiers from advancing towards the Presidential Palace located further down the road they were on.
As the fighting on the streets intensified, with a Tieren toppling into a building after being hit by several shells and rockets, Viper watched from his perch in a four-storey building not far from the action, sniper rifle in hand. It was time to get to work.
Viper watched as more infantry moved up to the barricade before he raised his rifle and aimed at one man who had stuck his head out before he fired one round. In a split second the man dropped dead as he saw a spurt of blood come out of the bullet hole and hit the ground. It had been awhile since he had last taken a shot with his sniper rifle and luckily he was still good at it and preferred it much better. Let the grunts do the work while making their job easier for them was what went through his head as he realigned his sights. The only thing he hated at the moment while he was shooting was being considerably tired, due to commands idea of throwing them back out right after the fighting had ended.
"Good kill." someone complemented after the kill who was dressed in similar gear beside him looking through binoculars acting as his spotter for the rest of this operation.
Seconds passed before his spotter spoke up again, this time about his target. "Tango four hundred metres barbed wire barricade one 'o clock carrying AT weapons." his spotter told him in a cool voice.
"I got him." Viper responded neutrally as he shifted his sights to his designated target who had just let a rocket off which spiralled near the crater where the infantry were sending debris flying up and wounding several men with shrapnel.
Instinctively he pulled the trigger when he had aligned his sights, adjusting for distance and wind, and saw the man drop, a clean shot through the head which was a near exact repeat of his previous kill.
"Infantryman five hundred metres near that wrecked car." his spotter then announced after the shot as Viper once again shifted his sights to the new target and dropped the man with a single round. "He's definitely dead." the spotter said bluntly before moving on.
As Viper waited for his next target, a massive roar filled the air from above as a squadron of Flags could be seen flying past towards the Presidential Palace.
It looked like the radicals were closing in as an explosion could be seen not far from their position as he could see a dogfight breaking out over a specific area, tracers filling the air from position on the ground. Judging by the intensity, they were definitely close as the loyalist were concentrating their the bulk of their force at the palace.
Viper's body then tensed for a second as a bullet ricocheted off his perch before followed by another. Through his scope he could see people starting to shoot at them aware of the sniper fire that was picking them off.
He fired off a single round before he lowered his rifle. "Time to move," Viper told his spotter who nodded his head and got up with him before the two began to relocate, his spotter telling the troops in the field sniper support was unavailable till they relocated to somewhere safe.
The two started to race down the stairs before out through the backdoor looking for another building that would provide a good field of fire and protection.
They turned left after leaving through the door, moving further from the battle, and after several moments of running they came upon a large apartment building, slightly taller than the building they had been in, but much larger in width. They climbed up the fire escape looking for an entrance only to find all doors were sealed and locked.
His spotter immediately went to the door on the fourth level and attempted to get it open with brute force. It took several seconds as his spotter took out a small breach charge and began to set it up against the doors lock. After he was set he signalled for Viper to move back down before he detonated the charge tearing through the lock with a bang.
The two immediately climbed back up and knocked down the damaged door on the fourth floor before they went inside to take positions.
As he searched for a good spot, his spotter moved out of the room and went further into the apartment complex. After several moments Viper gave up on the room as he saw most of fire points he could use pointed away from the battle.
"I've found a spot, third room to your right." he heard through his headset as Viper ran towards his partners location to see him laying prone with his binocular out behind some rubble looking through where part of the this room's back wall used to be.
Viper brought his rifle to bear and went prone before peering through his scope to see him looking at the enemy once more who seemed to have forgotten that there were snipers still operating and it was time to show them they were still here.
Soon it went well into a repeat of last time with his spotter calling out targets and him pulling the trigger, dropping the enemy as if they were flies. The only difference was their position, being further away from the fighting as the enemy didn't seem to know where they were firing from, yet.
"Sniper team two here!" suddenly came a cry through both men's headsets from another sniper team located somewhere closer to the front. "We've got an enemy sniper I repeat we've got an enemy-" the line suddenly went into a scream as the speaker they heard something drop with a thud.
"What the hell?" Viper muttered as he switched the line off as the screaming continued.
"Sniper team two!" then came again through their headsets but this time from a different voice. "My partners down, I'm packing up and getting him out of here, do you copy?"
"Do you know where the shooter is?" Viper responded. If they could find location of the sniper then the shooter's shots and days would be numbered.
"Negative on that all I know he's firing from the same direction the Arvineos are in."
His spotter then groaned as he cut-off the line that they were connected to. "Just when it was getting easy." he stated as he looked back through his binoculars. "I'll keep an eye out for the sniper; you just pick-off who you like, just limit your rounds lest he counter-snipes you." his spotter told him.
"Roger that." Viper replied as he reloaded his rifle and pulled back on the bolt chambering the first round in. "That sniper is going down once we find him." he said as he sniped another soldier with a single round through the head.
Viper limited his shots to three rounds a minute to conserve ammo and limit exposure, but yet his spotter still couldn't see the shooter that had engaged another sniper team over the course of several minutes. The only bright side to not finding the shooter was that the enemy forces were extremely depleted, especially as tank shells continued to tear up the barricade forcing Arvineos to find better refuge or back out.
Suddenly a Ranger dropped dead, in corner of his eye, in the crater where their men were fighting from with a sniper round through his head while the others around him took cover. Another soldier was then shot in the stomach who was now rolling on the ground bleeding out.
"Oh he's really going to get it once we find him." he thought to himself as he tried looking at the enemy lines to see if he could find the shooter.
Another line then came through their headsets, and from what he was hearing in the background it sounded like a tank as he heard the cannon fire from within and the sound of the turret spinning to face a new direction.
"All units, armour is rolling up, thanks for the assist in taking out the infantry, we should reach the target zone in ten minutes if nothing goes wrong." he heard the tank commander thank as Viper saw a shell be fired at the barricade where it was weakest, creating another gap for tanks to roll through while Arvineo loyalist began to fall back.
That was just what he needed to hear, the sooner they got through this the sooner they could hull their butts back to the fleet and get away from the UN.
Slowly he got up until he realized there was a sniper still out there. Immediately he dropped back down on his stomach, when he was on his knee, as a bullet passed right by his head and into the wall behind them causing his spotter to turn around in surprise before looking back out.
His heart pounded in his chest after skipping a beat, having nearly missed being sniped. He was thankfully glad he hadn't rushed himself to get on his feet and maybe it was some sort of higher being that prevented his death by making him remember at the last moment, but he didn't care, all he cared about was he was alive.
"Sweet Jesus, you almost got your brains shot out man." the man remarked in surprise as he went back to look through his binoculars before suddenly bursting out, shouting to Viper. "He's right there! Four-storey grey building, eight hundred metres, second floor, third window to the right!"
Viper fumbled with his rifle at the quick response as he immediately looked back through his scope, adjusting his sights to see a man in the designated building begin to pack-up. Immediately he lined his sights and took the shot only to miss as the sniper hightailed it out of there, the bullet grazing off the window sill and into the back wall kicking up bits of concrete, wood, and dust.
"Damn it, I missed him." Viper cursed, slamming his fist into the ground as he turned to his spotter. "Looks like we have someone on the target list for later."
"Ya think?" his spotter replied as he got back up ad headed for the door. "I hate counter-sniping duty." he then said as Viper followed the man.
"So do I, so do I." Viper replied as the two men climbed down the fire escape they had previously used and proceeded to move up with the rest of the Rising Phoenix, tightening their grip around Arvineo's government while another began to tighten around theirs.
Pacific Ocean, February 20, Phoenix Carrier en-route to Arvineo
The hanger bay was filled with noise and tension as the crew was busily trying to open the Filvery's cockpit to extract Helana out of there while others began work on the two remaining Gundams to patch them back up as quickly as possible for the Phoenix was closing in on its destination and everything would be needed in top condition for the upcoming fight.
As the crew was nearly done getting through the cockpit Nena could only watch from a distance. Why had Helana saved her, of all people, why was it her? Helana herself had said she hated her, so why in the world would she be willing to sacrifice herself for her?
Suddenly there was then a shout as the crew signalled for a nearby stretcher as two people could be seen through the crowd dragging Helana out and placed here on the stretcher before immediately being moved to med-bay.
"Clear the way we've got an injured pilot here!" someone shouted as the stretcher rolled into the med-bay through the crowd of people that had gathered around the heavily damaged Gundam.
She could see Helana bleeding profusely from shrapnel wounds across her body as the stretcher passed by, her flight suit tattered, ripped and helmet entry broken. Her eyes were barely open and as she could be heard weakly gasping, clinging to life.
"Oh God." Nena muttered to herself softly as her eyes continued to follow the medical team before they disappeared from sight.
None of this made sense one bit, did something happen to Helana while she was gone? There just had to be a reason for this, a damn good one if it was going to make any sense out of this.
She hoped that if Helana survived she would explain why she did what she did, and prayed that she didn't get GN-Particle poisoning or she would feel worse for what happened even if it was Helana who made the choice.
She was already suffering enough with the nightmares tormenting her each night and suffering from the guilt of ruining that one girl's life. She didn't need another face to torment her nightmares even more and adding more to her depression.
Leaning back against a blank section of the hanger wall she slowly sat down onto the floor and thought about the battle. If that pilot didn't die soon she would be in trouble, he continually gunned for her while keeping whatever help she had distracted with GN-Fangs and now a new flyer that was as deadly as an attack aircraft.
He was just so fast and the fact he constantly moved around to attack from a different angle after each blow while she was distracted made it nearly impossible for her to react, surviving barely just off the use of Quantum Brainwave, but she just had to find a way to beat him or else she would be dead.
Also she realized there were now only two of them left at the moment, Daveral and herself, could they even possibly take him on and what if he had help then how would things turn out for them?
"Nena I'm sorry," she suddenly then heard from someone as she turned in the direction she had heard the words from to see Daveral.
"Why?" she asked him confused why he was saying he was sorry to her.
"I wasn't there to protect you or Helana," he said back to her in a low tone as he looked turned his head and looked away, "I'm suppose to make sure none of you get hurt, but I can't even seem to do that right."
"You're blaming yourself for what happened even when you did nothing wrong?" Nena looked at him confused why he was saying all of this. Was losing half the team already too much for him?
Daveral could only shake his head while still not making eye contact with her. "Not only that, but because this leaves only you and me and I'm afraid I can't protect you just because I'm not good enough." he told her. "If I have to make the sacrifice next time I-"
Everything ended there as she tuned out the rest. Now Daveral was willing to sacrifice himself so that she would live on? How was she supposed to live with herself if she had another incident where all those she knew and cared for got killed? She did not want to be the last one left again and lose one of the few people who have been nice to her and be considered as a friend.
"Don't even say that." Nena abruptly interrupted him in an angry tone. "If you want to protect me that's fine, but I don't need anyone sacrificing them self for me. You're a smart guy; you should know that it's hard being the last one left and I don't want to have to go through that all over again."
"So where does that leave me if you get killed?" he responded back in kind. "I don't want to be the last one left either, I'm supposed to be your guy's leaders during missions, but I keep messing up and I can't keep you guys safe. Sacrifice may be the only thing I can do to protect you."
She didn't want to hear what he was saying anymore as her impulse took over as she got up and punched him in the face nearly knocking him off his feet as he placed his hand over where she had hit him.
To hear him go on how he wasn't good enough to protect his team and that sacrifice was the only option was just stupid.
"Just shut up and talk to me later when you get the idea of sacrifice out of your head." was all she said to him, not even bothering to look back as she shook the hand that she used to punch Daveral with.
As she walked away she turned in the direction where they took Helana. If Helana survived she was going to have to talk about why she made the sacrifice to save her and then she would focus on a way to take that machine down so nothing like that would happen again.
Arvineo Airspace, February 20,
Willard slowly opened his eyes after a few hours of shut eye. The auto-pilot doing most of the work to reach the designated position. They would be nearing the target soon and he had to be on alert before the action started.
He groaned as the sunlight pierced through the crack in his eye lids through his tinted helmet visor. Soon after he had woken up he scanned his surroundings to see Teller squadron to his right while two rookie squadrons were on his left which would be providing them cover from enemy mobile suits while his and Teller squadron would bomb the enemy carriers to provide some relief for the men on the ground and delay UN forces, hopefully.
"You up sir?" came a question through the comm from one of his wing man.
"Ya I'm up," he replied as he took the controls off auto-pilot. "Any news to report?"
"Carrier just got attacked by a single machine which managed to knock out one of our Gundams before running away; pilot is in critical condition."
Willard made a 'pfft' sound through his helmet's mask, things just had to go wrong when they were away. The carrier would have to at least make it to Arvineo, for if it was going to go down it had to be Arvineo where most of the fighting was taking place or the so called flagship, which also the pride of the entire Rising Phoenix, reputation would be utterly ruined.
"Alright," everyone then heard from Teller squadron's leader. "Enemy fleet should be coming up within half-an-hour; all squadron leaders make sure your people are ready to go."
"Roger that." Willard replied as he flipped a switch. "All wings report." he said to his squadron after having set the proper frequency.
There was a short count-off from ever member of his five man squadron before he reported back to Teller's squadron leader.
Currently Teller's leader had command and although Willard and his guys were the best the captain made them shift every so often so they wouldn't hog all the glory, something that Willard was quite alright with since he could focus more on the fight then giving orders. It was also because Teller was considered the eldest, constantly moving around bases for different operations so they had a good idea how things got done which explains why they have been at full strength for the entire duration, not having even suffered a single casualty.
"Death Wing squadron present and accounted for." Willard reported as he continued to look at his surroundings, having nothing better to do.
"Flare Squadron all here." he then heard through his helmet from one of the rookie leaders.
"Falcon Squadron standing-by." the other then reported.
"Okay people, stay on your toes, enemy shouldn't be much farther." Teller's leader told them again before he went on. "Falcon, Flare Squadron your roles are to distract enemy mobile suits and AA guns while we approach their carriers and deliver our payload. Come in from above, race through their defenses and start wrecking some havoc while we prepare our run and move through the gaps in their defenses." the senior leader instructed to the newer pilots.
"Understood." came a simple response.
Teller's leader then addressed Willard and his people. "All bombers are to attack in pairs or trios from different directions while flying low main targets are carriers, either take out their superstructure or cause enough damage to the hull sink'em. Remember once you drop your payload pull out of the combat zone and return to the airbase on Arvineo, we can't linger for long once they know we're here."
The man was too right, in Willard's opinion. Although the Ace was good at most roles it could take on, it suffered from the fact it couldn't stay too long in combat with their thin armour and the longer they stayed the more time the UN had to either muster a larger response and lock-on with even more guns which would total their ranks if given enough time. He was good but not that good.
Flipping through his HUD to show his aircraft's current load out he looked to see he had only a total of two heavy bombs, one in each wing. If they hit they would devastate, but if he missed that would be the waste of good munitions and an opportunity to cause any damage on the fleet although that shouldn't be a problem as the bombs themselves were capable of guiding themselves to targets on his radar-screen.
Willard then rolled his shoulder before placing his hands on the controls and setting his HUD back to normal. They had to live up to their squadron's name, and to do that they had to cause as much damage and destruction as possible.
In just half-an-hour the show was about to begin.
Arvineo, February 20, UN transport fleet
Several UN transport ships were preparing to close in on the short of the continent each carrying their own contingent mobile suits, mostly being the more advanced Commander Type-B Tieren models. Enacts were ordered to remain in the air for now only going to mobile suit mode to provide support if their lines started to fail.
In the distance Sergei watched from his command screen as the first mobile suits disembarked off the transport ships and rolled out making the UN's first print on Arvineo. Ever since last night they had not picked up any resistance or let alone any enemy forces entering their range. The enemy fleet must have decided to relocate during that time due to the casualties and damage inflicted upon them.
Still he couldn't take any chances for all they knew the enemy was just regrouping with an even larger force before they launched a counter-attack on his people so he had constant air patrols sent out to be sure as they did help find a squadron of Aces approaching the fleet at night. Several of the patrols were also sent inland to see what the radical forces in the region were up to. There wasn't much Intel on them other then the names of the two regiments that went rogue and what they had.
"Sir, your squadrons GN-Xs are back to one-hundred percent and good to go." came a report from one of the crew as Sergei nodded his head back to the man acknowledging it.
"Good, we'll head out in the next flight when our scouts report the situation of the capital, we cannot commit to this assault running blind." Sergei said as he turned to the captain of the ship. "I want Orca mobile armours to find where the Phoenix fleet went off to, we can't allow to hide for too long and recover."
"Understood sir." the captain replied with a nod.
"Colonel!" then came a voice to the side of him as everyone turned to the speaker. "Enemy fighters entering our range, appears to be two squadrons closing in fast"
"Send mobile suit teams to intercept and prepare all vessels for combat, but keep an eye out there may be more of them!" Sergei replied back with an order as the message began to be passed down the line towards the rest of the fleet.
Sergei watched as several Enacts began to gain altitude heading on a course to intercept the fighters which were now descending upon them.
From his screen he could see the Aces barrel rolling while speeding through the linear fire from the Enacts as if it were just to taunt them how good they were, before the squadrons splitted up into smaller flights once they had gotten past their mobile suits in different direction forcing their Enacts to split up as well to give chase against the fast moving craft.
More of their own mobile suits began to close in on the foe as the fleets guns went up, spraying the air with CIWS fire and anti-air missiles to shoot the fighters which soon would be just several hundred feet above sea level and any further they would be beneath their ships radar systems which was quite risky.
Still there was no way these fighters would get that far, being shot at by mobile suits and naval ships. Even the best pilot would be strained, especially in such a lightly armoured aircraft survivng just off sheer speed unless... it was all a distraction.
Sergei suddenly then turned to the captain of the vessel. "Have patrols pull of the mobile suits there may be fighters already beneath our radar line and preparing to attack the fleet."
"That's preposterous there's nothing that can-"
"Colonel," somebody then said catching his attention, "patrol just reported we've got a new group of enemy fighters coming in low, they're just a few miles off of the fleet north and northwest!" there was a slight pause before the man continued as it appeared more targets had entered onto his screen. "Sir, more fighters coming in from south, southeast also flying low."
"Damn it, they must of known we would pull off mobile suits to intercept the decoys, and they flew through the gaps" Sergei responded in a rather annoyed voice knowing that he should of expected this, "have mobile suit teams to intercept, we can't let them get through!"
"Aye, aye sir!"
There was a sudden deafening sound that passed by the carrier as an Ace roared right past the bridge before several explosions behind ensued as two missiles struck one of the ships CIWS systems effectively taking it out.
"Their softening us up for their bombers to finish the job," Sergei noted to himself after everyone had recovered from the initial shock as another Ace flew in this time striking at several Enacts docked on deck sending them into piles of expensive wreckage.
Without the element of surprise they had on the patrol group of Aces, they would have a hell of a time just trying to hit one. In fact it seemed to be a repeat of last night only it was happening to them instead. This must be pay back; however the response was much smaller than anyone could have anticipated. Last night there were no less then eight squadrons of Aces, if not more, that had returned to the fleet judging by the massive missile barrage that had chased him and his men across the Pacific. Unless there were more preparing to set up their run after the others had finished.
Just so many questions at the wrong time as he turned his attention back to the fight as the bombers continued to get closer and closer towards the fleet.
Willard could see one of the target carriers coming into view, and although they were too late to stop several transport vessels from unloading their forces onto the continent they could at least knock out the ships that provided command of the fleets of Enacts, submersible mobile armours, and probably carried high ranking personnel.
As his fighter swerved side to side to evade incoming flak, he began to disengage the locks for the bay doors and readied deliver his payload of two bombs at his target, the superstructure of one of the carriers. Hopefully he could knock out the bridge in one go.
Another Ace flew on his wing also heading in for a bombing run as it slowly swerved side to side through the hail of rounds.
There were just seconds left before he came into range, engines at maximum, he couldn't make a mistake for if he did this trip would've been for naught and if he got shot down without doing something meaningful he might as well shoot himself in the head if he lived, there was no way he was getting captured or stranded at sea.
He watched as his HUD told gave him the E.T.A to the target on screen. There was less twenty seconds to the target. Already he had began to pull up so he could make sure his payload would hit the superstructure of the bridge while more and more guns began to get a lock on him.
Fifteen seconds
Warning lights went off in his cockpit signalling he had been painted by several missile launchers on the warships.
Both him and his wing mate began to deploy countermeasures as missiles as three friendlies flying could been seen through the enemy fleet.
The Missiles exploded behind them as they kept closing the distance and shook up his fighter and caused some superficial damage although he was more annoyed that it had scratched the paint job then actual damage.
Ten seconds
Even through all the missiles and CIWS fire three Aces flew continued to fly just slightly above the fleet as several white trails left them and impacted into two different warships before they broke off to engage some mobile suits heading towards his craft. Although the missiles weren't too damaging against warships he noticed a slight drop in the enemy's firepower and every bit helped.
Five seconds
His hands began to squeeze around the trigger ready to get release his aircraft's payload while he did one last final check that everything was a go, there could be no screw ups now.
"I've been hit!" he heard a shriek through the comm as Willard took a quick look to check on his wing man to see it wasn't him. "Must of been one of Flares or Falcons."
Three seconds
This was it as he tightened his grip around the trigger with his finger as his aircraft continued to climb and about ready to start breaking off while an Ace spun out of control past him in flames to his left while two mobile suits streaked right past his fighter two Aces chasing after them, keeping them away from intercepting him.
One second
"Death Wing One, bombs are gone." he said slamming down on the trigger he could hear the mechanical locks release as his HUD told him the two bombs were no longer onboard and had been released onto the target.
"Death Wing Three, ordnance away." he then heard from his wing man.
For a split second he watched as the bombs head towards the superstructure of the carrier before he broke off away with his wing mate not far behind also having delivered his payload.
There was a faint explosion in the distance only to be overshadowed over the roar of engines as he began to head back to the captured airbase inland as the small battle behind him continued to rage.
The entire bridge shook as something exploded at the lower reaches of the carrier's superstructure as people.
Everyone had braced themselves for an incoming fighter which had deployed two heavy bombs against them and yet there was another Ace incoming that had already launched its payload. All they could do now was prayer as the bombs closed in on the bridge.
The feeling of death creeping up one seemed to make time itself slowdown, to saviour those last moments on earth and recall over the past and the present that all led up to this point.
For Sergei all of this had come too often over his career as a soldier. There had just been too many encounters with death for him pre and during Celestial Being's time.
Moments later the entire bridge was swept by the shock wave from two explosions, shattering the glass before the sheer power of the bombs forced their way in.
He tried to shield himself with his arms as debris was sent flying in with screams that could be heard in the background before suddenly he felt himself swept off his feet and sent flying back through the bridge from the explosion and shockwave as he felt himself land hard on the floor below before his vision went dark.
What seemed like moments later, he opened his eyes to see a distorted image of the once gleaming bridge as his eyes flickered to regain focus. He let out a cough as he tried to get back up, but as he attempted to get back up a sharp stinging pain in his leg forced him back to the ground. Looking down, from what his eyes could tell him, there was a dark red stain on his right leg with a piece of metal sharp sticking out.
Slowly he turned his head to look around to room to see if anyone else was still alive.
There were bodies laying against the floor some too unrecognizable to even be identified being nothing more than a charred corpse. People once infront of his eyes now gone in a flash reminding him the brutality of war, but he had to stay focus no time to mourn for he had a piece of shrapnel in his leg, he needed medical attention now and get the hell of the bridge.
Flames and sparks could be seen in the bridge spurting out twisted crevices in either the floor, the consoles or above. The whiff of smoke entered his nostrils overwhelming them before forcing their way into his lungs as he coughed again, he could barely breathe in this condition.
Suddenly he felt two people grab him and get him on his feet before dragging him towards the exit of the bridge. They were two men who were on the bridge and both seemed relatively fine, other than their uniforms being weathered and torn from the explosion and small injuries such as cuts from shrapnel.
"You okay sir?" one of them shouted to him as him and his buddy continued to help Sergei get out of the damaged bridge.
"I've got a piece of shrapnel but I'll be okay," he wheezed as they began their descent down a set of stairs towards the innards of the ship to find the med-bay.
Although the loss of life the bridge was difficult to bear he was glad that he was still alive and even if he would be out of commission for some time he would still be able to command his troops and hopefully make the rest of this operation less bloody on their side.
"Colonel!" he then heard from familiar feminine voice as they got off the steps from the bridge and into ship itself. He turned to see it was Soma who also appeared to be abit battered by the explosion, but looked more concerned about him then herself. "You're alive!" she said as she gave a sigh of relief before she noticed the wound on his leg as she went slightly pale. "Hurry get him to the medical bay." she told the two men helping him move in a worried tone.
One the men nodded back as he looked at Sergei. "You okay if we move faster?"
He nodded back to the man as his reply as he felt the two men speed up and head down the hallway as he could see Soma following not far behind as silence began to creep upon the fleet as guns slowly began to silence one by one.
Pacific Ocean, February 20, Phoenix Carrier en-route to Arvineo
Daveral waited in the lift, dressed in his regular clothes, he couldn't believe Nena had actually hit him. He guessed it for the best however as he wouldn't shut up, but still.
He rubbed the side of the face where she had punched him. All he wanted to do was make sure everyone came out of this alive, but as he had said to Nena he wasn't doing a very good job with Flint gone and Helana clinging on to life and although he knew about the risks they all took it was just too much for him.
If everyone died except for him he was going to resign, there were probably people clearly better them him for both piloting a Gundam and taking charge of a situation. He just wasn't that good at focusing at both task at a time even though he was considered the best for that task.
The door soon opened and someone's voice greeted him as he walked in. "You got quite the bruise there." Daveral heard Kail say to him as he entered the bridge. "So who hit you?"
Daveral glanced at Kail. "Nena did it because I wouldn't shut up."
"What did you say to her?" Kail asked inquisitively as he spun in his chair to face him.
He took in a deep breath before he answered. "Saying that I would sacrifice myself to save her." Daveral replied back honestly. "She didn't seem to like the idea one bit."
"Now why would you do that, do you have feeling for her or something?" Kail said with a slight laugh under his lips as if Daveral had something going with Nena.
"Nothing like that, I just want to keep the team together, but it's already jut me and her. I don't want to lose anyone else out there. There is no way that I can keep doing this if I lose my team." he told Kail as he looked around to see where the captain was to no avail. "Where's Wesker, isn't he usually here at all times?"
"Went down to med bay to personally check on Helana, said he had to see it for himself to see how bad is actually was." Kail answered as he shook his head. "With this going on we're losing alot of good people, hopefully once we're finished with Arvineo it'll be enough to shape the world for the better and then we can all go on a nice long break and recover our losses. Wouldn't mind if this behemoth got upgraded after all of this." he added as he patted his console referring to the Phoenix itself.
Daveral looked at the bridge at the clear sky. "Do you think I'm not cut out for this?" he asked Kail. "I mean I've lost two people already, or consider them lost at the moment. At the rate I'm going I really am going to be the only one left."
"Or dead." Kail added before going on. "You're not great, but you're the best we have besides I'm sure in time you'll get better we all will. It's how life goes for alot of things, you keep doing it till you get better at it no matter how long it takes."
He gave a slight nod. "I'll keep that in mind next time I head out." Daveral said back as went back towards the lift.
"Daveral," he heard his name called out, "don't take it too hard on yourself or you'll find yourself being destroyed from the inside out, just make sure next time you kick that guy's ass for Helana."
"I'll see what I can do." Daveral said with a sigh as he left the bridge still figuring out if he would improve in time to compete against the Gundam the next time they face.
Author Notes: Still no Flint I know, I'm currently banging my head against the wall how to incorporate him back into the story without doing some super heroic like stunts left-handed. Anyways next chapter will be more about what's going on in the Phoenix Carrier. Anyways please review :).