Patriot-112: Hey everyone! Here I am, along with my friends with another chapter of SEEDs of Change!
DKR: Sup bitches!
Takeshi Yamato: Ore wa Takeshi Yamato! Aku wo tatsu tsurugi nari! *ahem* Sorry about that, just getting in some practice on my Expy Style for this story. :D
Chapter 5: Howling Storm
May 20th, 2014 AD/ CE 71
Fresno County - Swordbase
Jordan sighed, as he sat in the cockpit of the Schwarze Calamity, looking over several maps of the area leading towards San Francisco. 'Well, on the bright side, I doubt the EA will be expecting us to commit to a counter-attack so quickly,' he thought, as he mentally reviewed the plans in his mind. 'We may actually have the element of surprise with us for this op.'
It was the night before the scheduled Counter-Attack against the EA Forces in Los Angeles, and after doing numerous reviews with the General, they now had finalized their plan to retake the city. Most of the military forces were already loading up, and preparing for the assault as tanks, APC's, other vehicles and of course American-controlled Mobile Suits were gearing up for the march to the city.
However, Jordan and his own little 'team' were getting a much earlier taste of combat. Since they had the most advance machines out of them all, not even including the Archangel and its own MS Complement, the General wanted them to be part of a 'special' operation: Disabling the early warning system that the E.A had set up, mostly around the route to San Jose. They needed to maintain surprise for as long as they could, and taking out their early warning system would allow them to march into the area unopposed, and keep them on time for when the invasion force from Hawaii arrived to storm the beaches.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he heard outside the cockpit and saw D.J. now wearing his EA helmet, but also his multicam BDU uniform and Load Bearing gear. The only thing different was the nearly acquired AKMS slung across his back.
"Just thinking about the plan," Jordan said, shrugging. "If we want to take out those stations quietly, we're gonna have to leave our suits, and take 'em out from the inside. If we attack them with our suits alone, it will draw a LOT of unnecessary attention. We need to do this quietly."
D.J sighed. "You really need to cool down and relax Jordan," he said. "You've been focusing way too much on all this..."
"Oh, and what else am I suppose to do, Patriot?" Jordan shot back. "Worry about my family back home when there is nothing I can do about it? Worry about how this whole situation we are in is messed up, or worry what will happen when B.C. gets a brain and looks through a damn DVD store and finds a copy of SEED? I don't have TIME to relax!"
Patriot's eyes were wide at the sudden outburst, but then he gave Jordan a stern glare. "I know you're afraid of what can happen, now that this bullshit from the C.E. has ended up here, but that doesn't mean to take it out on me, Jorn! I had to deal with that kind of shit from my mom, stepdad, and my asshole of a stepbrother!" he snapped back. "And I'm also worried about my brother in Afghanistan! But I know he's not stupid enough to get himself killed!"
He then took a deep breath as he calmed his nerves down.
"I'll be in my Dagger," he said as he stood up and left.
Jordan sighed, leaning back in his chair. 'Alright… need to learn to not snap at Patriot next time I see him…' he thought 'fuck, today's been off for me…'
Jordan had been spending most of his time with the General and other soldiers who would be part of the advance force, planning out the operation, not wanting to deal with any flukes. However he hasn't been spending as much time with the others. While they were helping out as well, Jordan has focused his attention on the upcoming operation to avoid snags.
"I assume things have been a bit hectic for you?" Jorn looked up and saw Kira, and he sighed, already knowing that the Ultimate Coordinator heard the brief shouting match between him and Patriot.
"You can say that," he said. "I've got a lot of things I needed to do in less than three days to prep for this operation… and considering how the General has made me and DJ part of his advisors, I have been VERY busy planning everything out… I need to make sure as many people survive this coming shitstorm of an invasion as I can."
Kira nodded at that. "I know how you feel…" he said. "…I don't enjoy seeing people getting killed just for selfish reasons, especially the hatred between Coordinators and Naturals."
"True," Jordan said, nodding. "I don't want anyone to get killed in this op… but I know it's inevitable. I just… I can't protect everyone I guess… if I could, I'd be over South Carolina right now, trying to find my family…"
Kira nodded at this. "I once heard a line, 'there are no perfect men in this world, only perfect intentions'," he said, and Jordan chuckled a bit.
"That's true I suppose." he said, "No one can be perfect… but we all have to try our best to do what we can do… for a better future I suppose."
Kira smiled, before they heard the shouts of the military officers telling the grunts to mount up, causing Jordan to sigh.
"Well, here we go," he said, and then looked to Kira. "You'd better get to your Gundam, Kira. Cause soon shit's gonna hit the fan."
Archangel hanger
Wearing a pair of welding goggles, Ron attached a pair of hardpoints to the right forearm of Tanner's Dagger which would hold the extra beam saber in place. As soon as he was done, he turned off the welder and removed the goggles. "Ok, get that damn thing in place!" Tanner's MS was the last one on the modification list: his and Dylan's Daggers were long since done. "Get down from there and we'll get it in!" Ron jumped back onto the catwalk as Murdoch's team moved an extra saber into position. The Daggers were ready for war, although Ron was REALLY hating the cockpits.
The late-UC types were superior in every way, but he didn't have time to make them. Luckily, he had 'produced' the basic blueprints and given them to the knuckledraggers. They loved the idea and said they'd work on it.
Takeshi, meanwhile, was sitting in the cockpit of his own Dagger, ensuring both Striker Packs were still connected and functioning, and mentally going over every scene in Super Robot Wars where Sanger Zonvolt (or Zengar Zombolt, if you went by the Japanese Translations) made an appearance - if he was going to Expy the guy, he was going to give it his best shot.
His thoughts also occasionally turned to Linda, the woman who was a continual help to him, from helping him tweak his OS to even running food to him when he forgot to eat. And he couldn't help but feel drawn to her. 'I can't stop thinking about her,' he realized. 'Is this… is this what falling in love is really like?'
Something hitting the cockpit hatch got his attention, and when he peeked out, he saw Ron standing close to his MS. "So, any plans on fucking up the next fight, or are you just going to be silent and shoot them without them noticing this time?"
Takeshi blinked. "I'm not going to be Expying Rom Stoll again, if that's what you're asking," he replied.
"I'm asking whether or not you're going to be practical! The last time, you could've just shot the Calamity down! Instead, big flashy speech! Seriously, the only time I've done something that stupid was in a game, where I couldn't actually get hurt!"
Takeshi blinked again. "Alright, understood," he said. "Probably won't be Expying Rom Stoll again for the Forseeable Future - such speeches were his stock and trade. If you'd like, next time we have a chance, look up Sanger Zonvolt, or Zengar Zombolt - same guy, just two different translations of his name. Anyway, I'm likely going to be emulating/Expying him in this and future battles."
Ron sighed. "Fine, but I'm only bailing your ass out once. I owe you for distracting those OMNI Enforcer assholes last time, although I REALLY don't remember the last half of it. After this, we're even, Takeshi!"
Takeshi nodded. "Right," he said. "Remember, though, I am a melee specialist, so I do tend to have to get in close to dispatch my enemies."
"Meaning I'll repay you sooner than I thought. Gun beats knife in real life: no exceptions. Besides, I heard the shit coming out of your cockpit and thought I'd tell you to turn it the hell down: some of us are actually trying to get ready for the next engagement!" Ron walked off, shaking his head.
Takeshi shook his head, then turned down his MP3 player. Though, that gave him a bit of an idea… he keyed his suit's comm unit. "Takeshi to Bridge," he said.
The face of Miriallia Haw appeared on one of the auxiliary screens. "CIC here: what's up?" she asked.
"Had a bit of an idea," Takeshi informed. "During the upcoming battle, we could start broadcasting hardcore Death Metal Music over any comm frequencies the enemy might be using as a form of psychological warfare, loud enough that they have trouble communicating normally over the music. We'd be using different frequencies to communicate, ourselves, so we wouldn't have to worry about that."
"Well, it'll give us an advantage for one fight, maybe two, but they'd counter it if we use it too much. I'll talk to the captain and see if she'll go for it," Miriallia said.
"Alright," Takeshi replied. "Thanks for telling her about it, at least."
"You're welcome, Mr. Yamato. Or should I call you something else, because we've got TWO Yamatos on board?" Miriallia asked.
"Just call me Takeshi," Takeshi replied. "It'll likely make things easier."
"Not a problem, Takeshi." The screen went blank and Takeshi got back to work.
Meanwhile, Jessica and her team had their own preparations to complete. Tony grunted as he leapt on top of his tank to check the gun's barrel for any sign of possible warping from the amount of usage that had gone on recently. "Well, looks like people are getting ready for the coming fight," he noted.
"Yeah? Well, us too," Jessica remarked as she tightened up one of the bolts on the track of her own tank. "Just gotta thank God we even are going on this one."
"Hey. They need all the help they can get," Vanessa said as she wiped her head with her hand. "Whew."
"So, what's the first part of the plan?" Steven asked as he peeked out from the hatch of his tank. "I mean, what's our first objective?"
"When we get to that, we'll know. For now we just need to finish prepping for the mission," Ben said seriously.
"Ben's got a point," Tony said. "That can come later."
"Still… I just hope we can inflict some kind of major defeat on those AF guys," Vanessa muttered. "They are nothing but a bunch of greedy bullies who think it's fun to mock and demonize other humans just because of genetic enhancements. And to be honest, I'd even kill one of them bare-handed if I could."
"We know. Just don't let your rage get the better of you," Jessica said. "We need to keep ourselves focused and think rationally here. This is war. And we need to keep ourselves alert at all times in this kind of fighting."
Vanessa nodded, knowing what her friend was saying. "All right. I will."
Jessica merely smiled as she turned and finally tightened up the last bolt. "There. That should do it."
Steven nodded as he clambered out of his tank's hatch. "Everything all set?" he asked.
The team nodded. They all turned and examined their tanks, noting the camouflage paint scheme done by Murdoch when Tony had asked him to do it. But they also had painted on each of them the symbol of their new First Armored unit.
The emblem consisted of a tank's silhouette with what appeared to be a knight's helmet in the back of it and a sword was overlayed with the gun, almost as if the sword itself was the tank's gun. A modernized, futuristic 1 stood out on the tank beside the tank's rear.
To them, the sword represented their drive and commitment to defeat any enemy that threatened them or their friends, and the knight's helmet represented their honor and determination. The tank showed that they were willing to fight dirty if no other choice called for it.
"So, you guys ready to kick some ass?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah," Steven said. He held up a clenched fist. "Those AF bastards are gonna really regret messing with us!"
Everyone else nodded.
"Okay. Let's go report to the captain and tell her we're ready," Vanessa said.
The team turned and ran out of the bay.
Hours Later - 5.4 Kilometers outside San Jose
"Bravo 4 to Overlord, we are in position, over."
"Echo 5 to Overlord, set up here."
"All units, this is Overlord. We copy. Operation: Forty-Niner is go. Gamma 1, kick the door. Move it people, we're burning starlight."
"Gamma one copies," Jordan said, sitting in the Calamity's cockpit as he eyed the area before them, the rest of 'Gamma Team' consisting of himself, D.J., Mu, Ron and his team, and several other US Soldiers either in Mobile Suits or on the ground surrounding. "Moving in. Alright everyone, you have your targets. Anything heavy you have the Mobile Suits take out, but we need to keep this quiet for as long as possible before they raise any alarms."
"Do this as quickly as possible, people: blitzkrieg the motherfuckers and do it now!" On cue, Tanner leveled his Agni and fired it at the most fortified building in the area. And alarms quickly started going off in the distance.
"That's our cue," Jordan said, as he used his machine to drag over a large M.S.-sized camo tarp over the machine. "Patriot, you're with me. You know the drill, we go into their early warning base, disable their system, bug out, and call in the cavalry."
"Roger that." Patriot said, as his own Dagger pulled over a camo tarp as well.
The two MS pilots then disembarked from their respective machines and proceeded to head on foot toward the Early Warning station. Jordan noticed his friend was being unusually too serious, if the look on his face was any indication. Though he was one to talk, as he was taking it just as serious.
The approach to the base was not too difficult, while there were spotlights they were more focused around the road and not the gates surrounding the compound as Jordan cut the wires, allowing them entry. "Quick and Quiet Patriot," he whispered, as he raised the weapon he chose for the operation, an MP5SD3 with a fixed stock and red dot sights.
Patriot just nodded as he kept his AKMS slung on his back and pulled out a Colt Operator, with a suppressor, and the two headed forward into the compound. On the way to the main building they saw many of the AF soldiers all running to their posts. All of them worried about the sudden attack.
They continued on, until they reached the Early Warning station. They saw only two guards, and Patriot patted Jordan on the arm. Knowing what he wanted, Jordan nodded as he raised his silenced MP5. "You take the one on the left, I got the one on the right," he whispered.
Patriot nodded as he aimed his Colt Operator at the guard on the left side of the door, while moving silently closer to the AF soldier. "Don't miss," he said.
"Fire in three…two… one… Fire."
The two's fingers twitched, as they each fired a single bullet from their weapons. Their aim was true as they simultaneously downed the two guards, as they fell over like sacks of bricks.
"And they're down..." Patriot said and the two moved forward and dragged the two guards out of sight.
"Once we place the charges inside, we need to bolt," Jordan said, as they entered the building. "Make sure they can't reuse this station. I just hope the others are keeping them distracted…"
With Gamma 2
Ron was doing what he could to piss off the local OMNI Enforcer troops, using a combination of 40mm cannon fire, 12.7mm bullets and what he referred to as...deconstructive remodelling. In short, he was dropping buildings on the enemy Mobile Suit and rail tanks by shooting out some of the supports. "This would normally be very therapeutic, but it's just REALLY annoying right now." Dylan was drawing away a larger number of Daggers, luring them into Tanner's Agni fire while Ron continued practically destroying San Jose.
With Gamma 3
"FIRE!"
The closest Dagger went up in smoke as the rounds hit the jetpack and penetrated into the fuel system. The machine erupted into a fireball as five tanks sped through the destroyed streets, blasting a path for any US forces that had Mobile Suits or any kind of motorized transport.
"Nice shot!" Vanessa chirped over the comm to Tony.
"Don't thank me," Tony said seriously. "We have to stay focused."
"Yeah," Ben remarked over the radio
"All right! We get it!" Steven snapped. "Let's just keep moving!"
"Incoming Daggers at twelve o' clock! One hundred fifty meters and closing!" Vanessa reported.
"Okay! Split up! Tony, you and Ben go down the next street. Vanessa, Steven, you're with me! We'll take the next one to the right and see if we can pin them between us!" Jessica said.
"Depends on how many there are," Ben remarked
"From the readings, it looks like there's twelve of them, and one of them is a Launcher Dagger," the blonde replied. "We'll have to take that one out first."
"Good idea," Steven said. "The sooner the better."
"Then let's go!" Tony replied.
Four battle cries resounded over the comm before the tanks split up at the next intersection. Two went left while the rest went right. They emerged into two other streets and headed up the roadways, splitting up to launch a surprise attack. One tank headed back to the front while the rest headed up left and right and emerged behind the incoming units. The Daggers had no idea they were heading right for a trap.
The Launcher Dagger split off from the rest and headed down a separate street where one of the M1A3s lay in wait. The pilot's eyes narrowed as he scanned the radar, trying to spot anything that looked like a possible trap or ambush by US forces.
The sudden blaring of his alarm caught him off guard as he looked up to find himself staring down the barrels of two 90mm cannons, and one 130mm cannon. He reacted by throwing his machine's shield in front of the cockpit as the guns fired, the shield taking the brunt of the explosive impact and getting blown off, along with one of his machine's forearms. He grunted as he stood his machine back up.
"You think that's gonna work on me? Think again!" he snarled. He gripped the controls and grabbed his machine's launcher and aimed it at the tank hiding behind the debris from several collapsing buildings. The tank's driver seemed to panic at that point and bailed out of there at full speed, slipping between two ruined office buildings and heading up the street. The pilot grunted as he ran after the tank, arming his launcher and firing off a few missiles.
The tank swerved a bit and turned around, the driver shifting it into reverse and arming the TOW missile pods. The pod covers opened and four missiles sped out, two from each. The two groups of missiles collided, creating an explosion that blinded the Dagger pilot. He switched his machine's cameras to infrared, and he was surprised to see the tank coming right at him.
He tried to rearm the launcher, but the tank fired off two more TOW missiles at his machine. He grimaced as he braced for impact.
The missiles hit his machine in the leg and chest, blowing it to bits and killing the pilot.
Steven got on the line a few moments later.
Jessica perked up as she heard his voice. "Jess, it's Steven. I took out the Launcher Dagger, but it cost me most of my TOW missiles. I only have two left."
"That's good. But try to refrain from using the missiles unless there's no choice!" she said.
"Will do. How's it coming on your end?" the young man asked.
"Just give us a few minutes. We're almost done!" Jessica remarked as she pulled the trigger for the main guns. The driver's cockpit shuddered as the tank's three guns roared, sending shells right at the Daggers they had cornered in their trap. Five were down and the others were huddling behind shields or debris, resulting in a firefight between them.
The tanks however were concealed by slumped piles of debris from the buildings, so they were somewhat more protected than the Daggers were.
"Tony! Aim your missiles at that segment of building just fifty feet above those three Daggers!" Jessica said.
"You sure?" Tony asked.
"Do it!" she snapped.
Tony hesitated, but as Jessica watched, his tank's TOW missile pods angled up a bit and two missiles fired from them, hitting the segment she had described. The explosion was enough to loosen it and collapse it onto the three Daggers below it. The pilots screamed over the comm as they were crushed under tons of rubble.
"Nice! Ben, you and Vanessa see if you can take out the legs on two of them!" Jessica ordered.
Vanessa's tank fired its 130mm main gun while Ben opted for the 90 mms. Two of the Daggers collapsed onto their backs as the shells took out their leg joints and Jessica aimed her guns at the remaining two. "All right, assholes! This is why you should never listen to those bigoted liars!" she hissed. She pulled the trigger and all three guns roared, two shells hitting one Dagger in the leg and arm while the last hit the torso of the last Mobile Suit. The two exploded.
Jessica smirked as she got back on the comm. "All right, guys! That's it for those guys! Now let's get back to the rest of the unit!"
The five tanks regrouped and sped back to the rest of the unit.
It was not easy due in no small part to Ron's wonton destruction of the city, although it did make getting followed much harder. A Dagger, which tried to get a bead on them with its machine gun, was crushed by a collapsing building, but it did manage to get two shots off, both of which hit the trailing Abrams, and because, like all tanks, it had thinner rear armor, it was quickly disabled as the engine was destroyed.
Jessica heard something off, and she turned on the radio. "Hey, is everyone still operational?" she asked.
"I'm good," Tony reported.
"A-okay. Why?" Vanessa asked.
"I'm still running," Steven said.
"Bad news," Ben said. "The engine's shot."
"What? How'd that happen?" Jessica asked him as she brought her tank to a stop along with her friends.
"Something shot me. I'm gonna call in for some support to get me out. The rest of you go on," Ben said.
"All right. Just be careful," the young woman cautioned.
"I will." Ben cut the line and the other four continued on.
'Ben… please make it back...' Jessica thought to herself.
Ben sighed as he leaned back in the seat of his tank. "Well… guess this is it…" he muttered. Then he smiled. "But… it was worth it every step of the way."
He triggered the locator on his tank before he locked the hatch. 'Not like it'll do much good if those Druggies find me…' he thought.
A Dagger made its' way over, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the IWSP gatling shield on the left arm. The only one that had that thing was Ron's.
"So, I see you've discovered that tanks suck against Mobile Suits. Get the fuck out of that tank and try to link up with the infiltration team: no sense in trying to save that thing."
"Right." Ben popped the hatch and clambered out. He leapt down and ran off, but not before glancing back at his old tank. While it hadn't been in use that long, he had done some damage with it, and that was fine by him. He turned and ran off, heading for the rendezvous point. Sometimes it was for the best, he mused.
Meanwhile - with Jordan and D.J.
"Sorry," Jordan said, while he was setting up the final satchel of C4 under the consoles used for the Early Warning station, while D.J stood guard.
D.J rose an eyebrow, glancing down at him. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"Sorry for snapping at you earlier," Jordan said. "I've… had a lot on my mind lately… and with everything happening and all… didn't mean to take it out on you, buddy."
D.J. was silent for a moment before turning back and keeping a lookout.
"Just don't do again, alright? I'd hate to compare you to people who act like assholes because their life is shit," he said, and Jordan nodded in agreement.
"Trust me, that's the last thing I wanna turn into," he said, as he pressed the button as the C4 began to beep silently. "Charge is set, once we bug out we blow this thing sky high."
"Copy that… also, I planted a Timed C4 Satchel in one of the ammo tents on our way here, and it should go off in… 10 seconds," he said, and Jordan snapped his head toward him.
"Son of a bitch, you could have WARNED me sooner!" He shouted as he shot up to his feet and ran out the door with D.J. following suit.
D.J. only smirked. "Consider this payback! Now five seconds!"
"Five Seconds!?" Jordan yelled, not caring that anyone heard him, as their pace quickened. "GOD DAMN SON OF A BITCH!" The two ran out of the building, and just as EA troops were moving to investigate, multiple explosions from the ammunitions tent detonated, sending fire and smoke up into the air in a brilliant explosion as all of the ammo and explosives inside cooked off.
"And we have a fireworks show! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" D.J. cackled as alarms began blaring as the base scrambled to put out the fire.
"You're fucking insane, you know that?" Jordan shouted, hitting the detonator as the building they ran from exploded as its roof came flying off in a rain of debris.
"Yes I am!" D.J. replied, as the AF soldiers back in the compound were still scrambling about trying to put out the fire, where now thrown further into chaos by the Early Warning Station blowing up.
Meanwhile, Alcatraz Island
San Francisco
Alcatraz island has had a long line of history since it was built as a military prison in 1868, and later transformed into a federal prison in 1933 to 1963, before becoming a national landmark in 1986. However now, Alcatraz has become the Earth Alliance's new HQ for their operations in San Francisco, acting as a small fortress to prevent any enemy forces from getting in or out of the Golden Gate. Tanks, Artillery, Soldiers, and Mobile Suits stood on guard of the small base.
In one of the dozen towers of the infamous fortress prison, a single EA soldier was looking out over the bay, a pair of binoculars in his hands and a look of tired boredom on his face. He saw the early lights of sunrise coming from the east. He gave a sigh of relief, knowing that his shift was almost over.
"Finally, morning." he groaned out with a yawn. "A whole night of sleep wasted."
"Its not like we missed anything," one of the other EA soldiers said, "Or anyone… who's gonna be stupid enough to attack us now?"
"I don't know..." the first soldier said, sighing as he raised his binoculars again. "Nothing's out there..." he muttered "Nothing..."
However, at that very moment, his mouth dropped and his eyes widened, as through his spotting glasses, he found himself looking at a large fleet of warships, appearing over the horizon. The entire American Pacific Fleet.
'How the hell did we miss this!' He thought, before he hastily picked up a radio, in order to call it in. "Commander, this is Tower 6!" He shouted, "I think we have a problem."
"Define 'problem'."
"It's a fleet of-" A flash from one of the larger warships interrupted his speech. "Oh, son of a-" He was unable to finish, as just moments later 406 mm cannon fire destroyed him and everything else around him.
The flash was a 406mm cannon firing from a hastily recommissioned battleship: the Iowa-Class USS Missouri. The seven decade old battleship's 16 inch guns were still in the process of being repaired, as they didn't want a repeat of what happened to the pathfinder of the class back in 1989.
It was not the last salvo of artillery shells, as the Missouri, and sailing alongside it, the USS Iowa, opened fire on the shores of Alcatraz, and San Francisco, and moments later the many other ships of the fleet opened fire with smaller shells and missiles arcing towards the shores.
For the crews of the US Naval fleet, it was rather odd to be firing on Alcatraz, as it was a national landmark and was to be treated with respect. At the moment, however, it was an enemy base that needed to be taken out.
The Iowa wasn't firing all of her 16 inch deathbringers, however: turret two was still offline, even 15 years after the explosion that disabled it in the first place. But shock and awe wasn't going to last long. The defending OMNI Enforcer troops were finally getting to battle stations, getting their Mobile Suits and missile batteries into position. When the Iowa fired all of her aft turret's 406 mm guns, they exploded midflight as an AA missile battery actually managed to intercept them. It wasn't impossible: the British Seawolf was more than capable; they never did because no one used large caliber weapons against British ships.
The Missouri picked up her semi-crippled sister's slack, aiming all of turret three's guns at the offending launcher before firing. After a brief 5 or 6 seconds, the high explosive shells impacted the launcher (which was facing Iowa, and not Missouri) and destroyed it.
The battle wagons continued firing as landing hovercraft went forward toward the island.
The Alliance garrison attempted to sink the landing craft (to mixed degrees of success) but their efforts were hampered by the naval gunfire from the two battleships, which was more or less making their lives hell. Fortunately for the OMNI Enforcer troops, neither ship wanted a repeat of what happened back in '89, and when the Missouri stopped firing, the US forces knew they had a bit of a problem.
However, while the battleships were allowing their 16 inch guns to cool down, that didn't stop the smaller 6 inch caliber dual turrets, or the few Tomahawks they had, plus the Ticonderoga-class cruisers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and the two Freedom-class Littoral Combat ships, were no slouches either.
The OMNI Enforcer MS teams had finally had enough, and the few units equipped with Agni packs took aim at the enemy fleet, with their first target being the Ticonderoga-Class USS Lake Erie. "Target locked! Firing!" The lead machine fired, and the hyperimpulse cannon's beam had contact with the Erie's hull amidships, blowing the ship in half, sending the cruiser to the bottom of the bay. The Agni Daggers locked onto two more ships, Arleigh Burke-Class, then fired, destroying them as well.
"Son of a bitch!" shouted a sailor on the U.S.S. Chafee. "We just lost the Erie, the Halsey, and the Hamilton! Don't we have something to put those things down for good!?"
An Agni blast grazed the Missouri, before sinking the O'Kane. The Iowa-Class battleship turned her forward-most turret on the Dagger teams and opened fire. The 2-ton projectiles hit two of the Launcher units, destroying them with a massive explosion. At this point, the landing forces had finally made landfall, and were rushing inland.
The first ones ashore were M1A2 Abrams, as they fired as the ramps were lowered, and went forward, followed by Marines, and LAVs. Apart from the landing craft, were the Marines signature AAV-7A1 amphibious APCs, who upon landing, unloaded their loaded capacity of Marines.
Despite the bombardment, some of the linear tanks survived, although they were in anything but the best shape. Still, their railguns were perfectly fine. One of the tanks targeted the lead Abrams, then fired, obliterating it. The only thing that could defend against the railguns was Phase Shift Armor, and the Abrams did not have that. The few linear tanks managed to destroy three more Marine Abrams before the Marines found their attackers and opened fire with their German-designed 120mm cannons, scoring a direct hit on the crew compartment and killing them. This was repeated twice with the other two surviving perimeter LTs before the Marines pressed on deeper into the island's interior.
As the invasion progressed, on the bridge of the U.S.S Nimitz, which had been designated the flagship of the operation, an Admiral watched as the forces began to push a bit deeper. Scowling slightly as he saw the technological superiority of the E.A.
"Goddamnit..." he muttered. "Where the hell are the General's forces? We can't keep this up..."
Meanwhile - San Jose
Advancing into San Francisco
The four tanks of Gamma 3 sped through the streets, taking care to avoid any obstacles as they cleared the path for any US forces. Jessica's eyes narrowed as she swerved around a burning truck. "Damn… This just keeps getting worse for all of us…" she muttered. "But… it's not as if we're gonna give up!"
She turned her tank to the right and barreled down the street with her friends behind her.
A lone Dagger stood guard, but it was armed with an Agni cannon.
"Shit!" Steven swore. "That's an Agni cannon!"
"I know!" Jessica snapped. "Fall back and surround! It can't hit all of us at once!"
"No go," Tony cautioned. "We'll have to fight our way past it. The forces need to get past here and then we're at the outskirts of San Francisco. This guy's one of many guards, but he's perhaps the most well armed."
"Great! And we had to get this one!" Jessica muttered.
"Any ideas then?" Vanessa asked.
"Leave it to me," Tony said.
"What? No way!" Jessica snapped. "We're doing this together!"
"No time to argue! He's spotted us!" Vanessa exclaimed.
The Dagger armed its Agni cannon and aimed it at all four of them. Jessica didn't even hesitate as she gritted her teeth and punched it, speeding right at the machine. She pulled the trigger for the main gun, sending a shell right for the Dagger.
The machine leapt to the side and prepared to fire, but Tony didn't let him as he let loose with the remaining six TOW missiles in the pods. The warheads streaked out and headed right for the Dagger as it fired, blowing up four missiles, but missing two. The last two sped right through the smoke and hit the ground around the Dagger. "Shit! I'm outta missiles!" Tony swore.
"I got 'im!" Steven said. He fired off all three main guns on his tank, hitting the Dagger's position and taking off an arm, the one without the cannon, unfortunately.
Vanessa took the chance and fired off all eight TOW missiles, this time inflicting some serious damage to the Mobile Suit. She contacted Jessica not a moment too soon. "He's been damaged! Finish him!"
Jessica nodded and targeted with two TOW missiles. "This is your end!" she hissed. She pulled the trigger and two missiles flew out of the pods right for the Dagger. The machine dodged, but the cannon arm was hit by one and the limb, along with the Agni cannon, flew back and landed on the ground behind the machine. The Dagger collapsed and the pilot bailed out as the unit exploded from too much damage.
"Right. Let's move!" Steven chirped.
The tanks continued on, clearing the path for the US forces behind them.
Team Nutcase (the nickname that the US forces had given to Ron, Tanner and Dylan) were continuing to destroy Mobile Suits using damaged buildings and stolen weapons, but they were running out of ammo. Tanner's Launcher Dagger was nearly empty, and while Ron was being stingy over his energy use, he was running low as well.
"Fucking Christ, this is getting annoying!" Ron shouted, as a standard 01 Dagger charged at his Aile, but the Canadian-operated machine activated its' forearm-mounted beam saber and impaled the offending unit through the cockpit. "Archangel, this is Pinkerton: I'm running low on power! I need an evac route to RTB!"
"Copy that Pinkerton, head south east of your current position," Mirallia responded after a few moments of silence. "Archangel is moving to designated support area to deploy our own suits. Once they launch, you can land to recharge and rearm, so head on over here."
"Copy, Archangel," Ron replied. "Dylan, Tanner, time to GTFO! Get back to the Archangel and get resupplied! Those idiots from Pearl Harbor aren't going to last long against an Alliance counterattack, and we're the only ones that can keep them from doing that!"
"Got it, Ron: on my way back."
"Got it!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Just say 'RTB': easier that way," he said as he turned the Aile Dagger around, before spotting the shields of the downed Daggers. "Oh, what the fuck: I'll take them back with me."
Meanwhile - Archangel Catapults
The Archangel's Catapults opened up, preparing to launch the machines within. While the Freedom was in the Starboard Catapult, Takeshi's Dagger was in the Port Catapult.
'Well, here I go,' he remarked. 'Another fight, another Expy style… though this one I think might stick.'
"Takeshi, Kira, course clear!" Miriallia reported. "Go ahead and launch!"
"Kira Yamato! Freedom! Let's do it!" Kira called out as he launched in the Freedom.
"Takeshi Yamato, Dagger, Launching!" Takeshi called out in his turn as he was launched out the catapult.
(BGM: "The Sword That Cleaves Evil" - Super Robot Wars OG Divine Wars OST)
Takeshi blazed forward, moving in towards the ground steadily, looking for enemy targets. Spotting another Dagger, this one armed with a Launcher Pack, he smiled grimly.
"Ore wa Takeshi," he began. "Takeshi Yamato! Aku wo tatsu TSURUGI NARI!" (1.) As he finished his declaration, he shoved the throttle to the maximum, blazing at the Launcher Dagger. It took notice and fired off a shot from the Agni, but Takeshi barrel rolled to evade, and was in melee range before the enemy pilot could get off another shot.
"CHESTOOOOOOOO!" Takeshi called out in a massive battle cry as he brought down his Schwert Gewehr, cleaving the Launcher Dagger in two, before boosting clear of the resulting explosion.
"Waga Zankantou ni taten no mononashi," (2.) he said, before searching for the next enemy to Cleave.
Ron's Dagger ran past Takeshi's, carrying two standard shields. "Can't you NOT be dramatic?" Ron queried. "This is a warzone: we've got no time for games!"
Takeshi just mentally sighed, even as he continued into the city. Once this battle was over, he was going to have to show Ron clips of Sanger MFing Zonvolt in action - especially the Dygenguard/Daizengar finishing moves from the 2nd Super Robot Wars Original Generation. In the meantime, though, he had a battle to fight and enemy MS to Cleave.
With Jordan and D.J.
The two were busy dealing with a mixed platoon of Strike Daggers and 105 Daggers, as D.J.'s own 105 cleaved the barrels of two Launcher Striker 105's. Jordan meanwhile, was cursing up a storm.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" he shouted, while bisecting a 105 Dagger with an Anti-ship sword. "WHEN DID YOU HAVE THE TIME TO SET THOSE UP, ANYWAYS?"
"You just weren't paying attention," said D.J. as he destroyed three Strike Daggers with his beam rifle. "I already made 10 time charges before the operation began, and I'd thought it would be a good idea, so I brought a few with me and chucked one into the tent while you weren't looking."
"You could have WARNED me!" Jordan shouted, as he tossed a pair of beam boomerangs at a pair of Strike Daggers, slicing the two in half before the boomerangs returned, as he grabbed them.
"As I said before, consider it payback for snapping at me! Now we're even!" D.J. replied he roundhouse kicked a Buster Dagger, which made it lose it's grip on Hyper Bazooka, and D.J. reacted immediately by having his 105 jump into the air and grab it before aiming at a column of E.A. armored vehicles, and unleashed hell.
"Goddamnit…" Jordan muttered, as he hopped the machine up into the sky, landing on the side of a mountain which gave him an excellent view of the surrounding area. "Overlord, Gamma 1 here. It looks like the invasion is going full swing. I think it's time we hauled our asses over there to help 'em out."
"Copy that Gamma, we are moving as fast as we can," Overlord said. "Just keep them distracted."
"Roger," Jordan said, as he eyed the U.S. Fleet, watching as the U.S. Navy bombarded the San Francisco shoreline with everything they had, while also taking a few casualties themselves. However he blinked as he saw two ships in the fleet, which he did not expect to see… causing him to grin.
"Oh hell yes…" he muttered. "Yo Patriot! I think you're gonna like this! Check the American Fleet out, the two central ships!"
D.J. did what he said and when he looked in the center of the fleet, a grin spread across his face.
"Now that's more like it!" he said. "About time those maggots for brains got them back into the fight!"
"I knew battleships would make a comeback!" Jordan said with a grin. "What do you say we give Iowa and Missouri a hand?"
"With pleasure."
LCAM-X01A Archangel - Hanger
Ron scoffed at the sight of the Iowa-Class battleships near San Francisco Bay on the monitors. Sure, they had a lot of firepower, but they were large, slow moving targets, and from the look of things, the idiots had already lost a large warship from an Agni shot. Probably one of their heavy cruisers or something from the look of things.
"How long until this thing's charged up?!" He shouted, "We need to get out there or those idiots are going to get slaughtered! Again!"
"The battery's charged, but how the hell do you expect to get out to Alcatraz?!" Ron scowled at that, then wracked his brain. After 10 seconds, an anime came to mind. Eureka Seven. 'I am an idiot.' He thought. 'In fact, OMNI Enforcer is a bigger idiot for not thinking of it first.'
"Murdoch, get those shields over here! I've got an idea!"
Five minutes later, Murdoch was wondering just what the fuck was going through the Canadian's head. Ron had torn off the inner handles for one of the shields and welded one inside the other. "So what the hell is this going to do?" He asked.
"Two shields equal double the strength," Ron said. "It might be able to support the Dagger's weight if I'm going fast enough over the water." The 257 pound Canadian climbed into the cockpit (having exited to make a visual inspection of the welds, which were made with a beam saber) before the Mobile Suit grabbed the shield. "CIC, this is Pinkerton: I need you to get this ship as close to the water as possible!"
"Why?"
"Ever heard of surfing? Well, I'm about to do that in a Mobile Suit!"
"…You're insane."
"They said the same thing about planes being used as weapons. Look at what happened," That shut Ramius up. "We'll get as close as I dare to."
"Then get that catapult fully charged! I need a fuckton of speed for this!"
Meanwhile - With D.J and Jordan
The 105 Dagger and the Schwarze Calamity were heading toward Alcatraz to help secure the rest of the island, which still had at least 2 Strike Daggers, and a 105 Dagger equipped with a Aile Striker Pack, identifying it as the Commander unit.
"I got the grunts," said D.J. as he looked over toward the Schwarze Calamity. "Think you can handle the boss?"
"Got it," Jordan said, the Calamity jumping forward to engage. "Don't get yourself shot down Patriot!"
"No promises." said D.J. as he drew a beam saber and went into the air, and then dived down on the distracted Strike Daggers who were still busy in their attempt to push the landing force back. As he landed behind Strike Dagger, he shoved his beam saber through the back and out the front of the M.S. through the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly. He then jumped away as the E.A. Mobile suit exploded.
This got the attention of the second Strike Dagger to turn in his direction, and the immediate reaction the drawing of it's own beam saber and charging at him.
D.J. smirked a bit as he watched the Strike knock-off charge at him. When the M.P. suit swiped its beam saber at D.J. in order to take off his 105's head, he made the TRUE progeny of the Strike Gundam duck the slash before driving his shield into the mid-section of the Strike Dagger, then with his Mobile Suit's strength, used the shield to throw it over the 105's shoulder and on it's back on the ground.
He then snapped his beam rifle toward the down M.S. and waited for five seconds for the pilot to try something stupid. When he saw no movement, he made the 105 kneel down and pry the Strike Dagger's cockpit open, without damaging it in the process, and saw the pilot was out cold.
"And a prisoner for us, and another Mobile Suit added to our arsenal." he said with a smirk, and looked toward Jordan's direction to see how he was doing.
Meanwhile, Jordan circled around the Aile Dagger, firing his own Beam Rifle at the machine, only for it to dodge his attack, and return fire with its own carbine. Jordan had the Calamity hit the dirt, and duck behind some buildings to avoid the shots, before rounding around the corner, returning fire at the AIle. This continued on for several minutes, as the Aile Dagger tried to keep a bead on him from above, but Jordan stuck to the ground behind the various buildings for cover.
However, Jordan had to finish this quickly, and he knew that as he came out of the cover, and tossed a beam boomerang at the Aile, before speeding down the streets towards the machine. The Dagger fired from its beam rifle, destroying the boomerang, however, Jordan jumped up into the air using the thrusters of the Calamity, and then launched out both of his Rocket Anchors on his arms to latch onto the left leg and right arm of Dagger.
"GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!" Jordan shouted, as he then yanked the Dagger out of the sky, causing it to crash into a building. He hopped over to it, and found that the Dagger had damaged its Aile pack, meaning it was unable to fly now. However the machine was able to climb out of the wrecked building, drawing a beam saber.
The Dagger's standard thrusters burst to life as it sped forward, intent on stabbing the Calamity. Unfortunately the pilot had apparently not heard of the new upgrades Jordan had performed as he simply blocked the attack with his anti-ship swords, causing their beam saber to cut out, allowing him to slice off its right arm as it overshot.
(BGM: Alestorm - Set Sail and Conquer)
"AHAHAHAHAHA, MOTHERFUCKERS!" Jordan glanced to his right to see a Dagger on top of a shield… 'What the hell? Is that thing SURFING?'
The 105 Dagger (And judging from the Aile Pack and the IWSP Gatling shield, it could only be Ron's) shot past Alcatraz, heading toward something else that was closing in: an Alliance fleet. It was small, made up of only seven or eight ships, but it was dangerous enough. Mostly to the American fleet.
"Let's dance, motherfuckers! This is what happens when I get PISSED OFF!"
'He's fucking insane…' Jordan muttered, as the Dagger spun around, trying to attack him with his last remaining arm, only for him to slice it off as well.
"Just fuck off already!" He shouted, kicking the now defenseless machine away - the pilot finally realizing it had no way to attack aside from its head vulcans, and fled as quickly as it could.
"Uh, Jorn, am I seeing shit, or does that remind you of…?" D.J. said, as he looked at the surfing Dagger as went into it's attack run on the E.A. Fleet.
"Eureka 7? Yes, yes it does…" He muttered before he sighed. "Come on, let's give the Canadian Bastard a hand…" However just as he begun to move, a new status update from the fleet caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"Patriot, we got a single Spengler-class carrier heading our way," Jordan said. "Looks like they showed up for the party."
"Well shit, can't we get a break once in a while? Oh well…" D.J. said, just as a squad of Marines arrived and climbed onto the downed Strike Dagger. He immediately activated his Dagger's intercom.
"The pilot in that Mobile Suit is still alive, make to capture who it is inside that thing."
The Lead marine saluted at that as he and his comrades headed for the open cockpit, just as the 105 Dagger and Schwarze Calamity took off.
Aboard the Spangler-class Carrier New Dawn, Mobile Suit Hanger
"You guys remember the plan, right?" Tom asked as the Spangler-class made it's way towards the EA Fleet. "I distract the fleet, and you guys get in under their flag, from there, we take their ships over…"
The Captain nodded. "Our boarding parties are standing by. From the look of things, though, the US Navy sent a fleet to try and retake San Francisco. They've already lost five ships, and two more have taken damage. We'd better move quickly if we want to capture those ships, Captain."
"Right, load up the Aile Striker pack," Ryu ordered. "Going to need some maneuverability to deal with these guys."
With the insane surfing bastard...
Ron cackled with glee as he closed in on the OMNI Enforcer fleet that he planned on slaughtering. A single carrier, 5 Arkansas-class cruisers and 2 destroyer escorts were easy prey, even for the glorified cannon fodder Dagger.
"Sucks to be you, fuckwits!" Ron opened fire with the 52mm machine gun in his MS's right hand, punching through the Alliance warship's superstructure like tissue paper before activating his forearm mounted beam saber and shoving it into the warship's side, cutting through the watertight compartments and making them useless. "Next!" He spun up the gatling shield and fired at the closest Arkansas, hacking apart parts of the hull. Two ships would be going to the bottom soon.
He then turned his sights on four Fraser-class Destroyers, whose CIWS began to fire at him in an attempt to bring him down. It was not to be, though.
"CIWS? For a Mobile Suit?" Ron asked incredulously. "My God, OMNI Enforcer needs to retrain you people on anti-MS combat!" The CIWS did manage to hit his machine gun, but Ron was planning on discarding the damn thing to pull out the more dangerous beam rifle anyways. The only things that would survive superheated plasma impacting them were shields with an anti-beam coating and laminated armor. The MP warships had neither.
So, yeah, they were fucked.
The Dagger banked while avoiding more dangerous cannon fire before whipping out the beam rifle and firing eight rounds into two of the destroyers, dooming them within seconds. "And next on the 'you fucked with the wrong person' contest is the MOTHERFUCKING CARRIER! I'M THE CRIMSON FUCKER, BITCHES!" He fired six shots into the carrier's ass, easily breaching the hull and causing water to rush in at 5000 metric tons per minute. The carrier's watertight compartments were breached: the carrier would soon face the same fate as the RMS Titanic 102 years earlier.
As he was about to move onto his next target, however, a lance of green energy cut through the air, skimming near his unit's head. Turning he spotted a new carrier on approach with a mobile suit that looked like a mix of the Strike and Duel with what looked like a sniper rifle and an Aile pack standing atop of the ship.
Crazy or not, Ron quickly assessed his chance of victory. In short? Slim to none. He had failed to notice the carrier's escorts, but that wasn't what he was focusing on. 'Even if I die, it'll drain the fucker a little. Besides, I don't have anything to really live for anymore.' He turned toward the new enemy, ready to die if necessary.
Cockpit of the Wrath
Tom smirked a bit as he fired another shot at another modified 105 Dagger and a mobile suit that looked like a Sword Calamity with an Aile pack before dropping the sniper rifle and picked up a pair of beam rifles. "Let's DANCE!"
Before he could try and fight the two Mobile Suits, the Dagger on the shield that was, for lack of a better term, surfing and beating the shit out of that fleet ahead of them fired at the Wrath with its' beam rifle. It closed in, roughly 750 meters from the carrier.
Tom smirked as his thrusters powered up and launched himself from the carrier, skimming above the water before firing the Shiva-II rail cannon at the Dagger, followed closely by a pair of beam shots.
The Dagger banked to avoid the railgun round and one of the beams while using what looked to be an IWSP gatling shield to block the second beam from hitting the Dagger before returning fire with the gatling itself.
Several of the shots were taken by the phase shift armor as Tom closed in on him. "Not bad, surfer!" he shouted with a grin as he suddenly lifted up the Wrath's legs and blasted the Dagger the thrusters on the base of the feet.
The Dagger managed to flip over, aiming at the left hand beam rifle, which was unprotected by an anti-beam coating or laminated armor, then fired the gatling at it. The 30mm cannon rounds tore through the rifle, destroying it.
Tom quickly tossed the rifle away before it exploded and replaced it with a beam saber. Activating the Igelstellung Anti-Air vulcans, peppering the Dagger with the rounds before he closed in and bisected the shield arm off of the Dagger.
In the Dagger's cockpit, Ron was pissed. "That's it, you son of bitch! My turn!" He discarded the beam rifle, then activated the right arm's forearm-mounted beam saber in a vain attempt to try and kill the Duel/Strike hybrid.
The hybrid unit spun in the air as it dodged the strike before lashing out with its foot, knocking Ron's mobile suit off of its improvised surfboard and into the water before firing the attached grenade on his remaining beam rifle.
Self-preservation instincts kicked in as Ron fired the 40mm cannons mounted in the dagger's head to destroy the grenade, before he groaned. 'What the fuck am I doing? I'm dead anyways.' At this point, he noticed a wetness on his chest. He gazed downwards, noticing a piece of shrapnel embedded in his gut. "Fuck. Might as well feed the sharks." He opened the cockpit hatch, preparing to bail out to his death.
However, his suit suddenly lurched, causing him to blink as he looked at saw the Schwarze Calamity, having caught his machine, flying back towards where the Archangel was. "What would you do without me, you crazy Canadian Bastard?" Jordan asked.
Ron shook his head as he escaped another brush with death. 'What the fuck is with you? Why won't you just take me already?!'
"Up. Yours." His head hit the side of the cockpit as he blacked out from bloodloss.
Jordan shook his head. "Archangel, get a med team ready! Ron's suit is hit and he's wounded!" he said on the comm. "D.J, a bit of cover fire would be nice! Keep that damn Duel-Expy off our ass!"
"Gladly!" D.J said, as his own 105 Dagger moved next to the Schwarze Calamity, firing his own beam rifle at Wrath as it approached, dodging most of the shots sent its way.
As the Duel-Expy came in close the pilot swung the beam saber at the legs of D.J.'s Dagger.
D.J. barely dodged it, as the saber nicked the left side of his 105's shin, but then responded by swinging the shield in a throw toward the Duel-Expy's head.
The Duel-Expy dropped its beam saber as its hand rose up and grabbed ahold of the shield as it fired the beam rifle point blank at the head of D.J.'s Dagger.
Nearby, the New Dawn merged in with the remains of the O.M.N.I Enforcer Fleet letting out several inflatable rafts to supposedly search for survivors. However, when the rafts approached the ship, the people onboard opened up with assault rifles on the E.A. sailors aboard, surprising them.
D.J., although was pissed that his Dagger lost it's head, saw the commotion down below.
"What the fuck?" he said in surprise.
"What the Fuck?" Jordan asked, sharing the same though, as he was watching the scene as well, as he handed Ron's Dagger to an Astray which carried it back to the Archangel. "Now they're shooting at each other?"
The two then looked at the Duel-Expy, who was looking ready to attack again.
It did, only it didn't attack D.J or Jordan, instead it targeted a Strike Dagger positioned on top of one of the escorts with it's beam rifle, blowing off it's head before both of its arms.
"Sorry about that Yanks!" a voice called out over the radio. "Had to make it look convincing for those idiot O.M.N.I. Enforcers!"
Both Jordan and D.J. blinked at that. "Wha… who the hell are you?" Jordan asked.
"Captain Thomas Johnston, Canadian Special Tasks Group," the voice announced proudly. "Currently engaged in piracy and false flag operations!"
Jordan blinked in surprise, while D.J. just sighed in relief. "Well, glad to have you onboard Captain Johnston," he said. "Glad to have some help here."
"Our pleasure!" Thomas said. "Now get your asses in gear, we ain't getting paid by the hour here!"
The two machines both followed the Wrath into combat, however Jordan glanced at the Gundam machine with a raised eyebrow. 'Johnston… could it…?' he thought, before he shook his head 'Nah, no way. He wasn't in the Canadian Military… right?'
"Alright boys, thumbs up, let's do this! LEROY JENKINS MOTHER FUCKERS!" the captain shouted as he closed in on a Strike Dagger targeting the boarding parties and quickly bisected the main body from the legs before kicking the body into the ocean. "New Dawn, let loose the dogs of war!"
The Carrier side doors opened up shortly after, and several ZAFT styled mobile suits stepped out and leveled their weapons on the EA controlled mobile suits.
With the new Sword That Cleaves Evil
"ITTOU! RYOUDAN!" Takeshi cried out as he Cleaved a Buster Dagger.
He was really getting into his role as a Sanger Zonvolt Expy, and doing really well at it. And he was definitely feeling that it suited him much better than any of his previous Expy Styles.
'Will likely need a more powerful weapon to serve as my true Zankantou,' he thought. 'I'll need to discuss that with the techs once the fight is over.'
For now, he still had enemy Mechs to Cleave.
Meanwhile - with Jordan
Jordan shouted a battle cry as he jabbed his Anti-Ship sword into the bridge of an EA Arkansas cruiser, jumping off as the ship detonated in the water, before landing on the next closest EA ship, and repeated the process over and over again. 'Shinn Asuka ain't got nothin on me!' He thought to himself, and he continued to follow the example Ron had set up, and took down the EA ships one at a time - being sure to avoid the ones being boarded by the Canadians.
With the arrival of the Canadians, the attack was quickly going more in their favor as EA ships were captured and sunk one at a time. Meanwhile - with most of the OMNI Enforcers focused on the newcomers and the captured American Mobile Suits from the south, the EA soon found themselves surrounded by the forces coming from the south, and those invading from the shores to the west. While some EA Forces were trying to retreat to the north, they found themselves incapable of doing so as a bombardment from American artillery and missiles prevented them from doing so.
While some EA were actually doing the smart thing, that being surrendering, those more loyal to the 'Blue and pure world' cause opted to fight to the death, and failing miserably at it.
"Talk about idiots," Thomas commented as he stabbed the cockpit of a Duel Dagger, being careful to avoid the powersource. "Well, we have the surviving EA ships under control."
"Looks like it," said D.J., before a thought hit him. "Wait? You said your name was Thomas Johnston? As in... DragonKnightRyu?"
Thomas blinked at that. "That's my fanfiction username! How did you...?"
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Jordan shouted, as the Schwarze Calamity flew over to where the two machines were. "HA HA! Ryu, you Drunk Canadian Bastard! I knew you were still kicking! It's us! Patriot-112 and 117Jorn!"
"Well, I'll be a damned monkey's uncle," Tom said with a small chuckle. "This certainly is a surprise."
"You bet it is." said D.J. as he then looked at the Spengler which was now flying the flag of Canada. "So where, or how, did you get the Spengler-class?"
"Salvaged it on the coast of Alaska, we found it during a patrol," Tom informed. "And this Wrath Gundam was inside of it when we found it, along with those ZAFT Units."
"Fucking awesome man!" Jordan said, looking around the battlefield, as the EA Forces dwindled as they were overrun by the American and Canadian forces. "Looks like our guys are mopping things up down there…"
"CHESTOOOOO!" could be faintly heard as a dark blue 105 Dagger with both the Aile and Sword Striker Packs equipped Cleaved an EA Duel Dagger with its Schwert Gewehr.
"That happened," Tom commented, the others could just imagine the sweatdrop running down the back of his head. "So… have you met any survivors from Edmonton? I'm looking for my brother, the rest of my family is fine, scattered, but fine."
"They're here, actually," Jordan said. "Picked them up a few days ago when their ship gave me and the others some air support." he chuckled. "You'll never guess who was in charge of them, Ryu."
"Ryu?" Takeshi's voice came through the comm. "As in DragonKnightRyu? No way! Its me, Takeshi!"
"Should have figured you'd have been the crazy one," Tom announced with a shake of his head. "So… who else is here?"
"Hey! What about me?! Don't think I'm left out!" Jessica chirped over the comm. "We're kicking some serious ass against some EA forces here! Mostly Daggers, but you get the idea!"
"Yeah, and Titanic X is here," Jordan said. "And leading your guys from Edmonton, is none other than our good friend Ron the True Fan!"
"Wait… don't tell me, first, Hi Titanic, I know you get antsy without attention, and let me guess, Ron was the idiot surfing with the 105 Dagger?" Tom asked with a sigh. "Goddamned idiot didn't give me a choice but to thrash him!"
"Yeah. That's him. And in case you're wondering, we're blowing shit up with the M1A3 Super Abrams prototypes, so if you see explosions, that's our doing," Jessica said. As if on cue, an explosion cut through the air and smoke curled skyward.
"And I think I've found my new calling," Takeshi added, after Cleaving one final Strike Dagger, surveying the battlefield before him and seeing no enemies actively fighting. "Waga Zankantou ni taten no mononashi," he said, finally holstering the Schwert Gewehr and moving to join Jordan and Tom.
Tom let out a sigh as he scratched his head. "Have to say, we of the Special Tasks Group have been watching you carefully, since you guys started your little rebellion," he informed. "But… some of our analysts just can't seem to get over how lucky you guys are."
D.J. blinked at that, before smiling a bit. "Yeah... we've been lucky so far, but sooner or later though, our luck will eventually run out." he said.
"That's why you guys need allies," Tom informed. "And more than some sparkling white Rogues, you need shipyards, factories, stuff like that."
"We're working on that," Jordan said, "I believe we may be on the verge of an alliance with the Orb Union… and in extension to that, the Three Ships Alliance. And if our luck holds out even longer, we could get some of ZAFT to work for us as well… at least the non-radical half."
Tom chuckled. "Luck can only get you so far, Jornnie," he informed. "Lucky for you, you now have the hardiest motherfuckers to walk the earth giving you some assistance, but just remember this, our first and only priority is the reclamation of Canada, and anything that assists with that."
The others all nodded at that, before a thought hit D.J.
"Wait, I thought Ron was the hardiest motherfucker, considering he's… you know," he said.
"What, Canadian? Insane? Ball to the wall crazy?" Tom asked. "Well, take Ron, multiply him by forty, and that's about how many men like him are under my command."
It was quiet for a couple minutes until D.J. spoke again.
"Okay, shutting up now." he groaned out.
"Agreed, but for now let's mop up the rest of these EA bastards." Jordan said, as he drew his Anti-Ship sword once more. "And Ryu… glad to have you onboard. But before I forget… what the fuck did I tell you about calling me 'Jornnie'?"
Hours Later
It had been a few hours since the operation ended at 10 o'clock in the morning, the entire city was retaken from the Alliance, and many of the U.S. Forces in the city were celebrating while the surrendering EA troops were lead away to detention camps.
Tom had any of the officers that were captured transferred over to the New Dawn where he had a group of… persuaders, waiting to… ask some questions. "So… First major victory?" he asked the others as they gathered around a fire, Tom producing a 15-pack of cold beers from who knows where.
D.J., Jordan, and the others nodded at that.
"Yeah, we've been stuck in a pocket that encompassed the entire Fresno County to the Cal-Nevada Border," D.J. said. "It was like our own Pusan perimeter or Stalingrad."
Tom chuckled. "I remember our first major victory," he informed with a grin. "Cold Lake Alberta, and all I'm saying is a ragtag team of misfits led by yours truly, a couple dozen pounds of C4, and a Lake with five Daggers walking on it, which led to my Captaincy and Command."
The others blinked at that, while Jordan whistled in surprise.
"Nice..." he said, "So that's how you got into the Military. Me and Patriot started up our own little group… we call ourselves Black Swords of Freedom… but lately I've been thinking the name sounded a bit too cliche, and been thinking of a new one."
Tom snorted. "Just a little, friend," he agreed. "Just a tad but, so, any of you looking to get drunk tonight?"
Takeshi shook his head. "Never really touched liquor before," he replied.
Tom shrugged in response, offering the case to the others. "No skin off my back."
"Pass," Jordan said, shaking his head. "Hate Alcohol, remember? I just stick with soda."
"Same here, besides, I tasted rum before and it left my mouth burning like Mt Vesuvius," D.J. said, and he made a 'bleh' sound. "One of the top ten not so smart decisions of my life."
Tom let out a depressed sigh. "Shame," he announced. "Ah well, more for me then."
And with that he proceeded to drink to his heart's content, while the others looked at their friend with a look of exasperation.
"He's as drunk in real life, as online," D.J. said as he felt as though an anime sweatdrop was at the back of his head.
"Helps deal with unpleasantness of war," Tom informed, a dull look in his eyes as he let out a sigh. "Desperation leads a person to some… dark places…"
Jordan shrugged. "Everyone has their own way, I suppose…" he said. "I just drink some root beer, work on the Mobile Suits, and train in the Simulator's the Archangel has. Keeps my mind off of it."
"I just focus on improving my skills," Takeshi remarked. "If I'm to truly be The Sword That Cleaves Evil, my swordsmanship has to be the highest possible caliber. Though, I have been hanging around Linda McTavish during some downtime periods…"
Jessica snorted as she leaned against her tank. "The only thing I really do to help me calm down is remember what it is I'm fighting for," she said. "I don't drink, and don't plan on it." Then she paused. "Well, maybe at some point. But that can wait."
D.J. just sighed as he pulled up his AKMS rifle. "I basically follow the same standards as Jorn," he said, as he brought out a cleaning rag from one of his pockets. "But another of mine is reading, and cleaning my guns. Strange hobby, the latter, I know, but better than nothing."
The young woman folded her arms. "So, what's next? I mean, we retook San Francisco, but how long can we hold it? And when are we gonna really deal some damage to the OMNI bastards?" she asked.
"If I may suggest," the Canadian spoke up. "Abandon San Francisco, your current strength is that you're on the move, keep striking at different points and disappearing, keep using that strategy."
"And go where exactly?" Jordan asked. "Nearly the entire northern part of North America is under Alliance control, with the exception of a bare handful of holdouts like Washington State. We don't have nearly enough ships to get everyone out to sea to retreat to Hawaii, and our only way back to friendly skies is south - meaning we'd have to bust through San Diego and Los Angeles to link up with the rest of the U.S Government and Military holding their ground in the southern states. While I agree with hitting them in different locations, our entire force can't go with us, we've got thousands of civilians to take care of, and a lot more soldiers as well."
"Then get the civilians out," Tom pointed out. "I hate to tell you Jorn, but neither of our governments have 'armies' anymore, all we are at this point in time is Guerilla Fighters, we cannot draw lines and try to hold them, that will only kill us faster… I've… I've had to choose, between preserving what little strength we had… and sacrifice civilians… or sacrifice my men and limited supplies… and save civilians…" Tom turned to Jorn, his dark brown eyes haunted. "This isn't war, Jorn, this is a Holocaust, and guess who we are."
"Like my brother says, it ain't over till the fat lady sings," Jordan said. "You're right we can't hold San Francisco, not forever at least. But it all boils down to the fact we have nowhere else to go. We are surrounded on all sides, the closest friendlies are to the south, between us and them everything the EA's got in this region, nothing but more EA to the east, and what forces we still have to the north are also under siege. I'm not just going to abandon everyone here for the EA to interrogate, and we both know what they do to prisoners, Ryu."
Ryu sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "Same thing I do," Ryu informed, his eyes hardening. "Eventually Jorn, you are going to have to choose, and you will hate yourself for your choice either way, but the choice will have to be made!"
Jessica's eyes narrowed. "And abandon all those kids to the EA's sick experiments?!" she hissed. "I don't think so! I saw what they did on our way here, and let me tell you, I'm gonna try and fight to save them, even if it's just me and my friends alone! Look, I don't know why you have to try and abandon the country, but as long as there are some US forces and others still holding on, we can try and fight on! That, and we can wake those bastards up to the inhumanity of what they're doing!" She clenched her fists. "I know it may seem like I'm an idealist, but the truth is we have to fight on and figure out a way to defeat these guys where it hurts the most: their Extended Project! We know where their little Extended lab is here. If we can hit them there, we can undermine their morale here in North America! We may not be able to halt the program until we hit Lodonia, but we can at least disrupt their program here in North America! That will show them that we know where to hit them, and that it will hurt them! And I plan to do that!" Her eyes hardened. "That, and we can undermine their legitimacy in the government if we expose it over time!"
"YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT!" Ryu shouted, his patience finally snapped. "I watched as the EA dragged off children so that I could learn the location of several off site bases for the Extendeds, I watched them slaughter civilians so that I could destroy a base, I have done unspeakable things, just to give my men a chance at survival, so don't preach to me."
"I'm not!" Jessica snapped. "I'm just saying it's way too early to give up! We have the means to fight back, and we can do it! We-"
"Enough!" Jordan snapped out, silencing the discussion. "Listen, you're both right, we can't stay here in San Francisco, but we can't give up the fight against the EA here in North America! If we're gonna take our homes back, we're gonna need a lot more force than what we have now! But our first and most important priority is to make sure the civilians make it to someplace safe!"
"And where would that be?" Steven asked. "Hawaii or ORB?"
"Orb would be best…" Ryu informed. "We have a few safe places, but… they're filled to over capacity."
"Orb would be a good start…" Jordan said. "But they can only take so many refugees… we need somewhere more permanent…" he then looked up towards the sky "…like up there."
"Space?" Tony asked in shock. "As in the PLANTs?"
"PLANTs would not be a good idea right now," Ryu informed. "It would be better to find either a Neutral Colony or an abandoned one."
"Like the L4 colonies?" Vanessa asked, finally catching on.
"Bingo," Jordan said, "There are a lot of Colonies in L4 that have been abandoned… including Mendel. We can send the refugees there, assuming Orb lets us use their Mass Driver to send them up. The colonies will have to be refurbished of course, but it's better than staying down here on earth with the E.A. everywhere."
"And in space, we could prepare to launch operations against the EA when they least expect it!" Ben remarked, his eyes glinting. He had several plans already in place, but he knew they'd have to wait until further notice.
"That, and we'd only have ZAFT to worry about," Tony pointed out.
"They're the least of our worries," Jordan said. "We may be able to get ZAFT to help us out, since we hold no ill will towards Coordinators. Plus, if we could get the radicals to stop being assholes and get their heads out of their asses, things could proceed a lot more smoothly in the long run."
Tom sighed. "Don't be naive, Jorn," he said, shaking his head. "We're not exactly the Charisma kings here, we're better off setting up in the neutral and abandoned Colonies. Don't forget, Patrick's followers were quite willing and eager to drop Junius Seven on the Earth!"
"I think he means the radicals who are not completely blinded by anger, Ryu," D.J. said, as he continued to clean his rifle. "But, he does have a point Jorn. The majority of ZAFT would rather massacre us than help us."
"And that is what I mean by we'd have only ZAFT to worry about," Tony repeated. "We know about Patrick Zala's schemes, and that most of ZAFT would only kill us, so we need to get the colonies set up and defended before we do anything else. That means we have to turn to ORB for now, and then once we start getting things set up in space we can begin to fight. But for now, the biggest priority is getting everyone we can out and to safety. Civilians, children, men, women, anyone who is hurt or sick, etc. Those are the people we need to worry about. Only then can we begin making plans for attack and operations against the EA and ZAFT's radicals."
"Agreed," said D.J. before everyone nodded in agreement, and then the military Otaku stood up. "Oh, and Ryu..."
Ryu looked at him, not expecting the punch to the face. "Ow," he grunted as he rubbed his chin. "That's gonna bruise, and depending on your reason, so will you."
"That's for blasting my Dagger's head off, you dick!" D.J. shouted. "Now I gotta find a new one, and paint it in my colors! Which will take a LONG ASS TIME!"
"Fair," Tom acceded. "That was fair."
"I'm going to need to find Linda," Takeshi remarked. "She's helped me out a lot in improving my Dagger - hopefully I can get her assistance in designing a proper Zankantou."
Tom grunted as he grabbed a cold beer and placed it on his jaw where D.J. slugged him. "Good luck with that," he said. "I'm going to go sleep this off… maybe see if Ron's out of surgery yet."
"Good idea, just make sure he's in a good mood before you enter." D.J. advised, and then clamped the dust cover he took off the AKMS back into place, and releasing a yawn afterwards, "And now that you mentioned it. I'm off to bed, night everybody."
"Same here, got a lot of work to do tomorrow." Jordan said, cranking his neck a bit. "Need to speak with the General about our next move..."
Tom raised a hand in recognition as he headed off to the temporary surgical tents where the injured were being treated.
He arrived at one tent in particular, and went inside, where he saw two rows of beds with ten on both sides.
Laying in one of them was a blonde man reading a large hardcover book, looking like he was trying to destroy it by glaring alone. His chest was bare, so Tom noticed a three inch long suture on his left side. "It's not as bad as it looks."
Tom snorted. "Nothing a twelve pack and a roll of duct tape can't fix, eh?" he joked as he used his foot to drag a stool over to him. "I take it you were the crazy idiot in the surfing Dagger?"
He nodded. "Ronald Pinkerton. And I paid for it: nearly lost two-thirds of my blood from that stunt."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I was in the Strike/Duel Hybrid, tried to take it easy on ya for a false flag op, but… you didn't exactly make it easy for me," Tom informed, holding an unopened beer to the bedridden man. "Captain Thomas Johnston, Canadian Special Tasks Group, you might know me better as DragonKnightRyu."
Ron looked at Tom before placing his thumb on the page he was on. "All the world's heroes, indeed. Well, I guess that solves one problem."
Tom snorted a grin on his face, holding the beer can he was offering a bit higher. "No hard feelings?" he asked. "Had to make it convincing for O.M.N.I."
Ron waved off the beer. "This is war: shit happens. Besides, it's a load off of me: this means you can take what's left of 22 Wing so I don't have to deal with them anymore. I'm a fucking civvie, for Christ's sake: I shouldn't have to deal with this shit."
Ryu laughed at that as he cracked open the beer and took a swig. "Yeah, I'll take 'em off your hands," he agreed with a grin. "Gotta hand it to you though, you took charge well enough when you were between a rock and a hard place… as for being a civvie, you open to changing that?"
Ron shook his head. "No. I'm getting the hell out of North America. The continent is lost, and I seem to be the only one to realize it. Besides, what do I have to offer? My knowledge? They don't need me, and to be frank, the Canadian military has been fourth rate since the end of the Second World War. Against OMNI Enforcer, we're little more than a nuisance and a sideshow."
"If you had said that last week, I would have completely agreed with you," Tom informed as he made a quick check around for eavesdroppers. "The Canadian Government has a location codenamed: Black Ice, basically our version of Area 51 without all the press, been building up some decent stuff since WWII, like the Avro Arrow after it was transferred there, also, we found a part of JOSH-A that survived, with a shit ton of Ordnance from ZAFT Mobile Suits and a few Dagger Variants, as for what you have to offer, were you not able to pilot a mobile suit with no prior training, did a group of Military Personnel not defer to your judgement? Plus, you're that special kind of crazy that the Special Tasks Group is looking for."
Ron shook his head. "No. I wasn't a fan of fighting back to begin with: I only did it because I had no choice." His gaze returned to the cover of his book. "And I don't have anything left to really live for anymore."
Tom sighed as he lowered his head a bit before looking back at Ron, his eyes hard. "Then why continue to fight?" he asked, a bit of anger in his voice. "Those who don't wish to live don't fight back as hard as you did, hell, you were up the creek without a paddle and you still kept fighting, shooting down the grenade shot with the head vulcans, so, if you have nothing to live for, why are you alive?"
"Death doesn't seem to like me very much. Every time I try to jump into the bastard's arms, he lets me fall on my face before laughing at me. Cruel bastard took everything that I actually care about away, and the only thing that's keeping me going is anger." Ron's scowl deepened at that point. "About 10 trillion fucktons of it."
"Alright then, let me use that anger as a weapon then," Tom said bluntly to his fellow Canadian. "Our odds are slowly improving with each piece of tech we salvage, but not to the point where we can throw away a resource like you, direct your anger at me if you wish for treating you like a weapon, but keep fighting, cause even one gun can make a difference in the war."
"Nice recruiting speech. Must get a lot of new people," he sighed before looking at the IV that was supplying him with spare blood. "I got no reason to be angry at you. Hell, I'm not even angry at OMNI Enforcer."
Tom inspected Ron closely. "One other thing you should know," he informed softly. "Special Tasks Group, we're suicide soldiers, hell, there are only 50 of us, and we were sent on a piracy attack to steal more ships for the Canadian Navy and reverse engineering, you want to die, don't die like a coward then, die making a difference," he stood up, cracking his neck. "That way, at least you can help prevent what happened to you from happening to someone else."
Ron opened his book again. "I don't plan on hanging myself. I'm going with the Archangel: those idiots need someone willing to actually kill everyone they run into. If I'm lucky, someone might end me. If not, well, I'm fine with that as well. I just don't give a fuck anymore."
"Mm, but, if you do find something worth fighting for, give me a call," he told him. "I just might have a use for you then."
Ron nodded. "Unless you want me to kill Muruta fucking Azrael, which is the only thing I really want to do right now, I doubt it. That's who I blame for this: Blue Cosmos, Durandal, and Le Creuset. They started the war, they ordered the nuking of Junius 7 and they directly and indirectly ordered the deaths of my ENTIRE FUCKING FAMILY!"
"Heh, well then, when ORB comes around, I'll have a job for you," Tom informed him. "Because, like you, I am willing to become the devil to end this madness."
Ron chuckled. "Then I need to get my hands on a few things. Care to help me get to the SFPD? I'd like to raid their armory and their weapons lockup for a few things neither you or the Americans have."
Tom ginned widely. "You kiddin'? Busting outta hospitals is the STG's specialty," he informed with a laugh. "Let's get you on your feet you crazy bastard."
Ron placed the book back in its' canvas sack, and pulled the IV out of his arm. "Here's hoping they've got a Striker or two: I'd like to turn my M1100 into a backup weapon."
Meanwhile...
Over the Pacific Ocean
A large transport plane was heading dead east towards the United States, or more specific, the State of Hawaii. In the cargo/passenger hold of said aircraft, Patricia and Anton, along with at least ten other U.S. military troops, including one very agitated sergeant.
"Come on, can't this thing move a little faster?" said Daniel as his foot tapped repeatedly on the floor.
"I understand you're worried Sergeant Cobb," he turned and saw Patricia giving him a firm but concerned look, "But you have to be patient."
Daniel growled a bit at that. "Forgive me, Colonel, Ma'am, but my whole family is back in California, and if what those E.U. guys said is true..." his fists clenched tightly at that. A hand touched his shoulder and he looked at Patricia.
"Just hold on abit longer, alright." she said, and Daniel grunted but gave a reluctant nod, and stared at the ceiling of the plane.
'Mom, Drew, girls, everyone, be okay.'
Patriot-112: And done! Finally! Sorry it took so long for this to arrive everyone! But you know, other projects, stuff at home, usual crap.
Titanic X: In other words, real life. So, get ready for the next few chapters, because things are about to go down hard!
Ron the True Fan: Don't expect too many victories for the good guys, either. We will take great losses (glares at everyone else) if we're going to keep this as realistic as possible.
Takeshi Yamato: ITTOU! RYOUDAN! *ahem* Sorry, still practicing my Expy Style, which fans of Super Robot Wars will likely recognize almost instantly.
Titanic X: Yeah. Well, anyway, I hope that we'll have a new chapter soon. Until then...
Everyone: Ja ne!
Footnotes
1. "I am Takeshi. Takeshi Yamato! THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL!"
2. "There is nothing my Zankantou cannot cut."