Patriot-112: Hello everyone! Here we are again bringing you another chapter of this GLORIOUS fic!
Disclaimer: We don't own anything related to Gundam SEED or Gundam in general. So get used to it.
Chapter 9: The Devil's Rise
June 12th, 2014 AD/ CE 71
Lagrange Point 2
"An Alternate universe?" Admiral Watkein asked, as he now sat in one of the meeting rooms of the Asarum, with Admiral Karn sitting across from them, as they discussed their finds.
"I could hardly believe it myself, but it is the only explanation," Christa said. "Side 3 is gone as is Grenada, and any colony that we know. Our scouts report however the existence of lunar colonies and bases that most certainly were not established by the Federation or Zeon, including a large city in what use to be the Copernicus crater. After they managed to hack into their communications… we received further proof." She glanced to the side as data was displayed on a monitor. "According to the people here… it is Cosmic Era 71, and there is a war between ZAFT - a group of genetically augmented humans - and the Earth Alliance - their version of the Federation it seems. Their conflict is… disturbingly similar to our own in our universe, using Mobile Suits very similar to our own."
Watkein looked at the data himself, frowning a bit. "This is not good… " he said, "If we really are in a new universe… we need to find a way to keep our ships resupplied."
"It seems our best bet would be to rally behind one of the factions of this universe," Christa said. "While we will be fine, since our Laputa Colony came here with us… I do not feel safe having the colony alone here in L2, we may attempt to relocate her somewhere else…"
"Aside that point however… it seems we are not the only universal travelers it seems," she continued as the screen showed multiple news reports. "It seems that there has been a… collision of universes here, merging two Earths into one. The Cosmic Era Earth… and what seems to be an Earth still in the twenty first century Anno Domini. I have no doubt that whatever caused this fusion is somehow responsible for our arrival here… it is worth further investigation."
"What do you propose?" Watkein asked.
"We both send one ship to earth - We have several Zanzibar-class Cruisers among our fleet, and you happen to have two of your Trojan Horses," she said. "They will head to earth, enter the atmosphere and see what is going on… it seems there is a major battle brewing in the pacific near Hawaii. We could learn much from this universe by seeing how their factions wage battle, and decide who would be in our best interest to rally behind… I believe we can all agree we do not want to work with this universe's version of Gihren Zabi."
Watkein rose an eyebrow at that. "You don't support the Zabi Family?" she asked, as Christa chuckled a bit.
"There are many within Zeon who do support the Zabi's… but me and my fleet are not among them," she said. "My husband was a follower of Zeon Deikun, and we had to do much to avoid being found out by the Zabi Loyalists… Laputa Colony was a safe haven for those who believe in Deikun's legacy, not Degwin or Gihren's blatant Neo Naziism."
"Well, at least that will put some of my men at ease," Watkein muttered. "Your proposal is sound though… the Valkyrie shall join one of your ships to earth and investigate this battle."
"Thank you, Admiral," Christa said. "The Ragnarok shall meet with the Valkyrie and head to Earth. Let us hope we can find some answers in this mess."
Meanwhile - Oahu, Hawaii
"Thanks to several recon probes the Archangel deployed returning from Alcatraz, we've been able to monitor EA movements in the area," General Toolan said, as he had gathered with the commanding officers from the fleet, plus Rau, Murrue, Ron, Jordan, and Tom. "We've ascertained that the EA will begin its next attempt to push into Hawaii again - and soon. A fleet is being reassembled in San Francisco, and they are likely to head out to sea within a day or two."
On the screen before them, several recon images of the EA fleet were shown, along with aircraft preparing to take off of runways. "We have a few days before the attack hits us, so it gives us time to prepare," the general said. "We have sent all civilians to shelters, or are being loaded into aircraft and ships to evacuate to the Orb Union."
"I've sent a message to my father, informing him ahead of time," Cagalli said. "He will be expecting them to arrive, and will help them in any way they can. He's prepared the Mass Driver as well, should we need them to evacuate into space."
"I can't guarantee we can hold Hawaii for much longer, but we'll stand our ground for as long as we can to make sure the civilians are safe at least," Toolan said. "We've got men preparing every possible defense we can on the beaches, inland… everywhere. AA guns, minefields, anti-tank and anti-Mobile Suit weapons, fleet patrols, and our own Mobile Suits. If the EA are gonna take Hawaii, by damn they won't take it easily. All of our aircraft will commit to ground-strikes, and leave anti-fighter duties to AA and our own Mobile Suits - their Spearhead's are too good against our own fighters."
"They will also be after myself, Jorn, Take, Titanic, D.J., and Ryu."
Rau looked at Ron. "Oh? Why?" The Archangel crew had not shared their new-found knowledge with le Creuset. A wise choice.
"I'm a fucking genius, Commander," Ron growled as he glared at Rau. "Through only a couple of weeks of theoretical research, I figured out how your precious N-Jammers work and how to counteract them. They've got N-Jammer Cancellers now."
Rau rose an eyebrow at that. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"They just restored power to the East Coast, mask-man. Unless you're denser then you look - and you look VERY dense - that would be the first thought to come to mind!" Ron then muttered something about 'masked retards' that was by no means polite. Or repeatable.
Rau's eyes narrowed at the rudeness, but were hidden by the mask.
"Is that so?" he said. "I believe I should warn the Chairman of this development, then,"
"Ya you should," D.J. said, "And you better tell him to set up something that can destroy a swarm of nuclear missiles in one shot, cause the EA will have a ton of them aimed at the PLANTs."
Rau wasn't going to do a damn thing, and they all knew it. The Neutron Stampeder wouldn't be ready for another year, and GENESIS was still undergoing final fine-tuning. "I'll make sure we're ready."
'No you won't, you genocidal assmuncher.' Ron growled mentally.
"We'll hold as long as we can until the civilians reach safety," said Toolan. "Once the civilians leave the island, then it will be us next," his face then turned somber. "But, I believe that our forces will suffer extreme casualties afterward. Losses that will take a long time, if ever, to recover from."
"All the better to end this ridiculous war as quickly as possible. And try to reverse the process," Ron said.
"Still holding onto hope that we can split apart?" Jordan asked.
"Have you bothered to think about what else Wolfsbayne would've caused?" Ron asked. "This is just the beginning. For all we know, reality itself is going to begin crashing down on our heads."
"For right now, let's focus on the coming invasion," Toolan advised. "I want every man and woman who can shoot, drive a tank, pilot a plane or M.S. to prepare for the coming hellstorm."
Everyone nodded at that, and soon, the meeting was dismissed.
"I wish we can some help from any of the other nations," said D.J. "No matter how small, it will help. A lot."
"I doubt Orb will send us any additional aid outside of the Archangel," Jordan said with a sigh. "We're probably on our own for this one, guys."
"I'll go get us ready for the invasion, as well as whatever comes next," Ron informed. "Here's hoping that Wolfsbayne doesn't bring us the Wraith, the Borg, the Zerg, or just about anything bad."
The group nodded and went their separate ways to prepare for the E.A. invasion. With D.J. his hand unconsciously went to his BDU pants pocket.
'If we survive this one and somehow get to space, these will come in handy,' he said, and went to go tell his family the news and get them on the first transports out of here.
With the Zeon/EFSF Fleet - L2
Christa was reading the report she received and what she was reading made her scowl in silent fury.
"Are these true?" she asked/demanded, and the officer who delivered the report nodded his head.
"Very accurate ma'am. It appears the EA does not have any qualms when using nukes to blow up a space colony, or the fact they've been conscripting child soldiers for this… 'Extended' program," the officer said the last part with complete disgust. "And ones pushing this along with full colors is the group behind the Alliance, Blue Cosmos."
"Sickening." Zeon had done that, inadvertently, by using a young boy to help repair a Zaku, but that wasn't exactly normal circumstances: they were losing the war, and it was an infiltration mission. OMNI Enforcer, as they learned the Alliance military was called, wasn't in dire straits. And they didn't force the child to do it to begin with, he did so voluntarily.
It was very clear that the Earth Alliance was considerably worse than the Earth Federation ever was, and possibly just as bad as the Zabi family - if not worse. After the Battle of Loum, at least the Federation ceased using Nuclear Weapons along with Bio and Chemical warfare like Zeon had... the EA had no such restrictions.
"What about this other faction?" Christa asked, "ZAFT?"
"The Zodiac Alliance for Freedom Treaty is… surprisingly similar to Zeon in more ways than one," the captain of the Ragnarok said. "They occupy Lagrange Point 5, in rather… odd looking colonies, shaped as hourglasses. They use Mobile Suits called GiNN's that are astonishingly similar to our Zaku's, as well as having a very capable ground-use MS called a BuCUE, and an air combat MS called a DiNN which is superior to Zeon prototypes we've developed like the Gouf Flight Types."
"Interesting..." Christa said, "Though let's not work an alliance with them… yet, we need to know more about their leadership. Who is running the show there?"
"Currently, Patrick Zala is the head chairman of the PLANT colonies - that's what they call the hourglasses," the Captain said. "I agree that we shouldn't work with him though. He's just as bad as Blue Cosmos, only he's highly anti-Natural… he reminds me too much of Gihren to be honest."
Christa sighed. "Alright, what else have you found out?" she asked. "What of the natives of this… world fusion?"
"They use 21st Century tech, as we uncovered before," the captain said, as the image of a map appeared beside him. "It seems the Earth Alliance possesses the most territory. The Atlantic Federation has control of Greenland, Iceland, Canada, and the majority of the United States, though it seems the Americans are somehow holding control of the southern states. Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and South America also appear to have managed to fight off the local AF forces."
"In Europe, it looks like Russia was overrun by the Eurasian Federation, along with Central Asia, the Middle East and the south-eastern nations of Europe such as Greece, Romania and such," he continued. "Though Poland, Germany, France, the UK, and other western EU nations are managing to hold it together, with the survivors of the Russian military and other defeated military units of the area. While the Scandinavian Peninsula seems to belong to the 'Kingdom of Scandinavia', a neutral nation. They seem to be coordinating with the 21st Century government a bit, avoiding the same mess most of the rest of the world is in."
"Africa is mostly under ZAFT Control, with the exception of the southern-most countries," he said. "China, Mongolia, and Korea have been taken by the Republic of East-Asia, but it looks like Japan is putting up quite a fight, the EA only just recently landing a beachhead to the south, plus surviving units from South Korea and China are working with them as well. South Asia and the Malay Archipelago is controlled by the Equilateral Union, while Australia is controlled by the Oceanian Union - ZAFT's only ally on earth."
"And Hawaii?" Christa asked. "Has the situation changed?"
"The EA are definitely planning an assault - that much we can confirm," the Captain said. "Their fleet will be on them in two days at most… I'm not sure the defenders can hold off on their own ma'am."
Christa closed her eyes for a minute, as she discussed her options. She most certainly wasn't working with the EA or ZAFT, the former being controlled by a group that made the Zabi's look like Saints, and the latter too full of themselves and lead by an egotistical moron that would make Gihren proud.
At first, it seems that it may be best to work with the 21st century locals, of course they won't just up and side with them… they needed to prove their offer was genuine. And what better way to prove their offer… than to assure their victory in a major battle?
Of course, a major priority they needed to worry about was Laputa colony - while it was capable of being moved thanks to the Minovsky engines attached to it, it needed escort. And they needed to find a place to relocate the colony where it could be safe - while L2 seemed to be abandoned, Luna itself was still mostly controlled by the EA - they're just lucky the Minovsky Interference was preventing their sensors from detecting them.
Alone, Zeon was capable of defending the colony - their fleet consisted of two Gwazine-class Battleships, an incomplete Dolos-class Heavy Carrier, a pair of Tivvay-class Fast Heavy Cruisers, a trio Zanzibar Kai-class Mobile Assault Cruisers, four Chivvay-class Heavy Cruisers, thirty three Musai-class Light Cruisers of various designs, a few Gagalu-class Destroyers, and plenty of Papua and Pazock supply ships, along with plenty of Mobile Suits.
However, considering their situation, Christa would feel a bit safer if the Earth Federation fleet would stick around - at least until they find a place in the earth sphere to plant their flag for now. They had two Pegasus-class Mobile Assault Carriers, eight Magellan-class Battleships, twenty four Salamis-class Cruisers (including three Nelson-class and five Fuji-class Subtypes), three Antietam-class Carriers, and a Trafalgar-class Carrier, along with several Columbus-class supply ships, and more than enough Mobile Suits.
However, while the fleet was impressive - Christa was a bit more interested in the Pegasus-class ships. Throughout the war, whenever you see one of those ships, you can almost guarantee a Feddie Gundam-type MS was onboard, and Christa was hopeful that a Gundam would be a very effective trump card if any of the factions here try anything funny - that wasn't to say they hadn't brought their own advance prototypes, such as Gelgoogs and even a Dolmel.
"Forward what we've learned to the Feddies - though I assume their ship is already delivering their report," Christa said. "Have you found a location where we can relocate Laputa?"
"We believe so," the Captain said. "It seems the EA had largely abandoned the L4 colonies, leaving many of their citizens to defend against mercenaries and pirates. We could easily move in, and occupy the area of space… considering the already strong dissatisfaction in the area, we could easily rally the people of L4 under Zeon's banner… uncorrupted by the Zabi Family's ideals."
Christa smiled a bit; now there was an idea. In a way… perhaps moving to this universe was a blessing in disguise. They could rebuild Zeon away from the Earth Federation, they were in a universe which didn't know about the sins of the Zabi Family… where they could show them Zeon Deikun's philosophy, not Gihren or Degwin's. Granted it would not be as strong as Zeon was in their universe… not for a while at least, but it was a start at the very least. And maybe one day… they could return to their universe, reunite all of Zeon, remove those who would likely follow Gihren's dogma, and revive the ideals of the Deikun family.
Of course their Federation friends likely wouldn't like it, Christa hoped she could reason with the Admiral somewhat. She had read up on Admiral Watkein's file in Zeon Intelligence - while he was an earth elite, he wasn't intolerable, and he was a reasonable man, and a bit of a poet from what she read.
'Something we shall deal with later.' Christa thought as she diverted her attention back to her current plan - help out the 21st century locals. "Send a message to the Federation Admiral," she said. "Inform him that Zeon shall intervene in the upcoming Battle for Hawaii, and the Ragnarok shall enter Earth's atmosphere to do so. If they wish to join them, the are free to do so."
A few hours later - With D.J.
D.J. was fine tuning the O.S. of his Astray Dagger, while at the same time looking at his M.S. schematics. It was inspired by the A.G. Era's own Shaldoll Custom MS but with slight modifications. One was increased thruster power, a more powerful beam rifle, and has the capability to mount Striker Packs, especially the Strike E's Noir Pack, when said Gundam comes in a year, that is.
"I hope this thing can change the outcome." he said, before he started to hear yelling.
"Where the fuck is that MSTR?!"
"We just got it finished, Lieutenant!"
"Then get it wheeled over to Patriot's Dagger! I've got modifications to do to it!" And there came Ron. He had been running himself ragged, getting whatever he could operational and ready for the invasion. And now it was his machine's turn to get the reactor/soccer ball treatment.
"Well, not that I'm against it or anything," he said. "At least I'll be able to see my enemies coming from every angle."
He then downloaded his O.S. and the M.S. schematics from the console onto a flashdrive and turned it off, before stepping out.
"It's all yours Ron!" he shouted, and then descended down the cable.
The Canadian-born man gestured to the knuckledraggers, then they began removing the armor and most of the components. "We need to get this thing on the line in less than half an hour! Pull what we don't need!"
"Aye, sir!"
"Patriot, come here. I'm going to brief you on your new cockpit."
D.J. then approached him, after placing the drive in his right BDU pocket.
"Okay, fire away, Kemo-Sabe," he said.
"I won't pretend to know what that means," Ron replied. "This is the newest subtype of my soccer balls: the Mk 1B, which has a few upgrades over the Mk 1As used by everyone else. Built-in computers, enhanced targeting systems and, unlike the 1A, this son of a bitch can be used as an escape pod. It's even got a few RCS clusters to give you limited flight control, so you don't crack your head open when you land."
D.J. nodded at that. "Good idea, that should keep me alive for, what? Two more weeks?" he asked.
"Funny. Don't break my reactor. This is the LAST reactor I can build for the time being. We don't have time to make any more, so make sure you don't break your machine. Watkins! Let's get to work!"
D.J. could only sigh as the mechanics got to work on his machine as they took the middle section of the torso apart.
'More things change, the more they stay the same.'
Four Days Later
It won't be long now...
The Archangel's drones had spotted the AF fleet a few hours ago, and were fast approaching.
Takeshi sat in the cockpit of the Alteisen Duel - the upgrades finally complete.
While he hadn't been able to go for all the extra armor and thrusters or the Claymores, and the Pile Bunker was a more simple, straight-forward model than the Revolver Bunker of the Alteisen Riese, both it and the Gatling Gun had been easy enough to install, the Aile Striker hardwired to the machine provided extra thrust, and the Launcher Striker shoulder units would provide extra firepower, even if it wasn't very long-range.
All possible preparations that could of been made had been done. The beaches were mined, Pillboxes were setup with Anti-Tank and Anti-MS weaponry, Artillery was set up, the military fleet was situated in tactical positions, Tanks, Mobile Suits and everything else were ready to engage the enemy upon their landing, AA defenses were set up, fighters and bombers were ready to launch, and the civilians were evacuating - most having already done so through airliners and transport aircraft, the rest using whatever ships they could to make their way to Orb.
Now, as the last of the civilians were being loaded up and ready to send away, all the military personnel of the North American continent could do was wait on the edge of a knife, as the Atlantic Federation fleet drew closer and closer.
D.J. was in his Mobile suit's new cockpit watching the horizon for any sign of the EA fleet.
'Now I know how the Germans felt just before D-Day,' he thought as he fiddled with the Maneuver joystick. 'Man this is nerve wracking as hell.'
Jordan was already in his own Mobile Suit, as the Schwarze Sieg was now complete, bristling with its new weapons. 'Here it goes…' Jordan thought to himself with a short sigh as he patted the side of his MS. "Let's show them what we can do together now..."
Jessica shifted in her cockpit, looking over the specs and controls for the Jaeger. She was determined to try and bring down as many EA Daggers as possible. She looked at the picture now taped to the console. "This time… I'm gonna make sure they don't get any more children!" she muttered, clenching her fists on the controls.
"Iowa to all ships: we've spotted several enemy warships bearing down, range 200 kilometers. Permission to unleash the 16s on them?"
"Permission granted, Iowa. Show them what the Lieutenant did to make you better then ever."
He then activated one of the Mobile suit's cameras, and zooming in on the horizon, and saw the small specks of the incoming enemy fleet. Then the sound of the modified Iowa's 16-inch guns firing were heard. 10 seconds later, he saw a small mushroom cloud appear as one of the ships was hit.
"HA, MOTHERFUCKERS! THAT'S FOR TRYING TO BRAINWASH - OH, SHIT!" The 16 inch guns might have been the largest long range weapons yet available, but by no means did the Alliance not have guns that could fire back. 127mm shells began to rain down on the vanguard force, with one 5-inch shell hitting the Iowa amidships.
"Launch the Arrow Drones, begin intercept operations," Tom announced from the New Dawn. "Mk II's, standby for launch."
BGM: VII from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
"We're picking up contacts out the ass! All of them are Strike Daggers! Uh, am I seeing things, or are most of them flying?!" 18 hours and the enemy had enough information to get the upper hand: they not only had Ron's 105 Dagger, they had the specs for his modified Aile pack. This was going to be an aerial battle as well as a ground one.
"Controllers, prioritize Aile Daggers as primary targets for the drones," Tom commanded. "Prep all units for launch! I'm heading out!"
D.J. saw that as his cue as he placed his helmet on, and fully started up his Astray Dagger.
"Time to dance," he said. "This is Cobb, Astray Dagger, I'm joining in! Taking off!"
With that, the modified EA suit launched into the air, his Aile Pack taking him toward the first formation of Aile Pack rigged Strike Daggers. He snapped his beam rifle up and fired off six quick shots and downed two of the Atlantic Federation suits, causing them to plummet toward the ocean. He then drew a beam saber and charged at the three surviving Strike Daggers, before clipping the pack of one sending it spiraling back to Earth.
"Three down!"
"Takeshi Yamato, Alteisen Duel, Launching!" Takeshi called out as his new machine launched.
Jordan put his helmet back on. "Let's show them what we can do, Schwarze," he said. "Jordan Tackett, Schwarze Sieg Gundam, READY FOR BATTLE!" The Schwarze leaped into the skies, activating its thrusters as it soared up to meet the enemy.
Jessica closed her eyes and took in a breath before letting it out. She started up her machine and opened her eyes, determination filling them. "Jessica Miller, Jaeger Gundam! Time to fly!" she cried, shoving the controls forward. The engines on the back lit up and the Gundam rocketed out into the fray in Mobile Armor mode. She turned it into Mobile Suit form and grabbed the Haze rifle and beam saber, holding both at the ready.
A trio of Daggers attempted to shoot the Iowa's 16 inch guns, making them unable to contribute to the fight, but an Agni blast destroyed one of them while a Strike with a forearm mounted saber impaled the other two. "Where the fuck did he come from?!"
"Easy answer, assholes. When I launched out, unlike the rest of the idiots, I kept quiet. Can't intercept what isn't transmitted." The last Dagger tried to shoot down the Strike, but an anti-ship sword to the gut prevented that. "Boys, we've got a fleet to destroy. Let's get to it, shall we?"
A beam lanced out, shooting another Dagger out of the sky. "I got you covered," Tom informed as he lowered the Beam Sniper Rifle for the Wrath. "Make your approach, I'll cover you."
"Tanner, give Ryu a hand; Dylan, with me!" Ron's newly acquired Strike and Dylan's modified Sword dagger headed toward the Alliance fleet, with the Strike stabbing and shooting whatever got in the way. "All forces, be advised: the fuckers are copying us."
"What?"
"They're mounting forearm-mounted beam sabers and the damn things repel!" Again, Ron's 'gift' to the enemy. The son of a bitch was just going to make their lives harder and harder, wasn't he?
"Understood." Jordan said, as he drew out his machine's Schwert Gewehr II Anti-Ship/MS Swords. "They won't know what hit them!"
Two beam rounds and an MPC blast forced Dylan to split off from Ron. "Great. The Stargazer assholes are back. Round two, motherfuckers, and I'm the one with the nuclear powerplant!"
Meanwhile, with D.J.
D.J. just finished eviscerating another when his alarm warned him of an incoming enemy.
He turned his Mobile Suit just in time to dodge a beam blast. And he cursed when he saw the source was the Calamity, riding on what looked like a EA version of the Guul.
"Great, just my fucking luck," he growled out. "One of those damn Druggies!"
And like all things, it came in threes. A red and black beam barely nicked the Aile pack, and he knew only one machine that had that weapon: the Raider. A pair of railgun rounds hit his shield, fired from the last of the first gen extended machines.
"Oh that's just great! All THREE of you assholes?" he growled again, as the three went on the attack. He then drew his second beam saber and then went straight toward, while dodging their wild shots...although barely.
"Shit! I can use a little help here! The three Druggie Stooges are here!" he said as he ducked under a swipe from the Forbidden.
The Calamity attempted to get a shot out on D.J… only for something to hit the machine's side, sending its shot astray "What the?!" Orga shouted, before he turned and saw the Schwarze Calamity, albeit looking considerably upgraded. "Oh, it's the fucking copy-cat!"
"Copy this, asshole." Jordan said, as he fired his own Schlag beam cannons, forcing the Calamity to dodge, but he was caught by surprise as Jordan charged forward with his shortened Schwert Gewehr swords in a cleaving motion. "Shit!" the Extended shouted as he ducked down to avoid being sliced in half.
However, he was then shocked when he saw the Astray Dagger coming from below, beam saber in hand, and tried to move away but was not quick enough as the melee weapon weapon sliced his arm holding the Todesblock bazooka.
"You Fucking bastard!" he shouted in rage as the arm exploded, but not before releasing the bazooka and the Astray Dagger catching it and aiming at the Calamity.
"Save it for someone who cares, cockbite!" D.J. shouted before pulling the trigger, and firing the plasma sabot round.
Orga's eyes widen before saying one word, "...shit." And one shot later, the Calamity detonated in an explosion from D.J's shot, its shield arm being the only thing surviving.
"One down… two to go." Jordan said, turning to face the remaining Extended. "Unless you want to surrender yet."
"INCOMING!" Tom shout over the radio, giving way to a few seconds confusion before the Wrath suddenly slammed, feet first, into the Forbidden, driving it down to sea level. "Sorry friend, but I'll be your playmate for today, Patriot, left flank needs to be reinforced!"
"Got it!" D.J. said, and with his new toy in hand, went off to reinforce the left flank.
With Jessica
"Hey! You bastard! Over here!" Jessica shouted, catching Clotho's attention. She screamed out as her machine blasted past at full speed in Mobile Armor form, rocking the Raider with the shockwave from the sonic boom as she broke the sound barrier. She curved around, firing the guns on the wings to distract him.
"Not you again you bitch!" Clotho shouted angrily as he fired the MJOLNIR at the Jaeger.
But she gritted her teeth and put the Gundam into a barrel roll, transforming back to Mobile Suit form as the beam barely missed. Her hours of playing flight games were paying off, but not enough to allow her to actually defeat this guy.
She took the chance though to snap up the arm with the Haze and she pulled the trigger, firing blue energy bullets right for his machine. "You and your masters have caused too much trouble, and you are not going to get away with this any longer!" she barked over the comm as she fired. She sped past, turning her machine as she flew, only to stop as he charged at her.
"Like I'm gonna go down that easily! Prepare to be terminated!" he shouted and fired the Zorn cannon. Jessica barely dodged the beam blast, before continuing back toward her target, now fully intending to take him out of the game for good.
"You… will do no such thing!" she snarled, feeling that fury building in her once more. She narrowed her eyes as she aimed the Haze once more, this time taking the time to aim it, the targeting reticle dancing across the screen in her cockpit. It finally flashed green and she pulled the trigger, but he dodged the blasts. As he aimed his Zorn cannon again, her eyes widened and she saw that hazel SEED shatter in her mind's eye, her eyes becoming dilated as she screamed out her heart and soul.
"This barbaric use of child soldiers has to end… RIGHT… NOW!" she roared, whipping the Haze up once more, firing again. The energy bullets flew right for his machine and he dodged, but one nicked the leg, surprising him. She seized the chance and pushed her throttles forward, grabbing the beam saber and charged at him.
"CLOTHO! YOU WILL BE RELEASED FROM THIS PROGRAM!" she screamed, dashing for him. "Blue Cosmos… WILL BURN FOR THIS!"
The Jaeger drew on the Raider fast, while Clotho could do nothing as the Gundam was now right in front of him, beam saber poised to impale his machine.
"Eh...?" was the last thing he said, before the beam saber was stabbed through the cockpit.
Jessica pulled out the saber and leapt back as the Raider exploded, catching the attention of a few other fighters. She spun her machine around and charged into the fray, eyes still dilated in SEED Mode. "RAAAAH!"
With Jordan and Ryu
"FUCK YOU!" Ryu shouted as he ditched the sniper rifle in preference to kicking the Forbidden who had its shield up. "Mother fucking turtles!"
"Come on, Thompson, you know you can't hurt me that easily!"
"BANZAI!"
A Schwert Gehwer impaled the Forbidden's left leg before a Dagger drew a beam saber in an attempt to kill the Extended.
"WHAT?!"
"How crazy is my life when I can actually be plausibly argued to be the straight man of comedy?" Tom asked himself as he watched Dylan's Dagger dodge the Forbidden's Scythe. "Pretty fucking crazy, now then," he let out a sigh as he shook his head. "Going to have to deal with those shields…"
"Yoink!" Jordan shouted as he dived behind the Forbidden, grabbed its Scythe and yanked it out of his grasp, and then proceeded to slice away its left shield with its scythe. "I'll be taking this!"
"You son of a bitch!"
"Hey, asshole!" Dylan hacked the beam-bending weapon off the Forbidden before introducing his beam saber to the Gundam's head. "Surprise!"
"That works too, I suppose," Tom sighed before pulling out a beam rifle. "Get clear!"
"Sayonara!" Jordan shouted as he got clear of the Forbidden with Dylan.
"What?" the pilot asked right before Tom pulled the trigger, piercing the vulnerable unit through both the cockpit and the reactor, setting the unit aflame in a fiery ball.
'Sorry, kid, but couldn't have you fuck things up anymore…' Tom thought to himself, looking at the burning ball without emotion before turning back to the battle. "Jorn, reinforce the right flank with Dylan, I'm heading for the center."
With Takeshi
BGM: Steel Beowulf [ver. Passion] from SRW OG: The Inspectors
Takeshi, meanwhile, hadn't had any of the Druggies to fight. Instead, he'd been using the Gatling Gun to deal with Strike Daggers in his path.
Soon, though, he found something a bit tougher - a Long Dagger, based on the Duel Assault Shroud. He dodged a few shots from its beam rifle, even as he increased the power to his thrusters, closing almost unbelievably fast.
"This thing's size isn't just for show!" Takeshi yelled out as he plunged the Pile Bunker into the Long Dagger's cockpit. "See for yourself!" He then triggered the weapon, pneumatic force punching the Pile Bunker clear through the enemy machine. Pulling the Bunker out, it reset as he boosted away from the Long Dagger, which exploded seconds later. "No matter how thick your armor… I'll just pierce through it," he declared as he searched for his next target, gunning another Strike Dagger down with the Gatling Gun as he went.
Overdramatic declarations aside, the fight was going far less in their favor then they'd like to admit. OMNI Enforcer may have lost more Mobile suits, yes, but they could replace them easily. The resistance, on the other hand, had lost a trained pilot and a machine every time they shot an MS down. In short, they were losing. "All forces, this is Overlord: we're detecting something overhead, angels 150. Too fast to be a carrier plane-" Static washed over the radio as Takeshi's machine (and every other non-OMNI Enforcer MS) fell a few feet before they regained control.
Jessica glanced back, the shockwave having startled her. She heard static over the comm and she grasped at once what had happened. "Shit…!" she muttered. "They used a nuke… as an EMP generator!" Her eyes narrowed as she observed what was happening on the island below.
"Not on my watch!" she muttered. She flew back into the fray, but regardless, even with her assistance, they were going to be losing.
Big time.
"Jeez," Takeshi groaned. "Glad Ron managed to get us all properly shielded against EMPs!"
That meant little to the rest of the force: the momentary lapse in control cost the allies several ships, planes and Mobile Suits, giving OMNI Enforcer the edge to finally push onto the island. The defense had fallen. They had little choice but to pull back.
"I don't think so!" Jordan shouted, as several landing craft suddenly exploded as the Schwarze Sieg unleashed a volley from its Schlag Beam Cannons, the Scylla Cannon, the Kaefer Zwei ram cannons, and Todesblock bazooka, slaughtering the invading EA aircraft, Mobile Suits and transport ships. "The fucking line gets drawn HERE! This far, no further!"
A Long Dagger tried to come up behind the Schwarze, however Jordan batted him away with a kick. "I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR SHIT!" he roared. "YOU WILL NOT WIN, YOU WILL NEVER WIN!"
BGM: Meijin ~ Six Times the Passion of Ordinary Flamenco, from the GBFT OST
At that very moment, Jordan experienced a strange sensation… for the briefest of moments, he thought he was going into SEED mode as his vision blurred, as a crystal-like seed appeared, however… something different happened. Rather than bouncing once and exploding in a wave of light like he saw in the show… it burst into a pillar of flames, almost making it look like a falling star. When the event was over, Jordan's eyes were no longer brown - they were now glowing bright crimson red.
And then, he let out a roar. A loud, almost inhuman roar unlike anything before, which was broadcasted through every EA and friendly comm channel, stopping all combat for a few seconds. Confusing, and in some cases scaring - people on both sides.
"What the FUCK was that?!"
"It was like a devil screaming or something!"
And that wasn't all, as within the Schwarze Sieg, the small sample of Aeonite inside began to shift its colors, changing from calm blue into a burning red. The Schwarze then leaped up into the sky, as it shot towards the EA fleet. The vessels fired their Anti-Air missiles at the Gundam, but the Gundam just fired its CIWS to gun down the missiles, and completely dodging the rest of them before drawing its Anti-Ship swords as it cleaved a Fraser in half, moments before jumping onto an Arkansas and slicing its bridge off, and stomping on the deck cannon. The Schwarze proceeded to jump ship-to-ship as it annihilated each ship, leaving behind a faint trail of red and orange particles. And in a few short minutes, well over half of the EA fleet was either burning or sinking, as EA aircraft and MS were falling from the skies in burning wrecks.
Jessica's SEED-dilated eyes widened as she stared at the massacre happening down below while she cut a Dagger in half with the beam saber. "What the hell?!" she blurted. She suddenly grunted, firing the Haze at a Dagger and destroying it while shielding her cockpit with the left wing/shield before shooting a glance back at the Schwarze. 'Jordan… What the hell happened to you? You're acting like Shinn…' she thought. She looked back and her eyes narrowed as she stared at a bunch of Daggers storming ashore. "NO YOU DON'T!" she roared, flying down and blasting them with the Haze, leaving burning wrecks behind. "NO ONE IS GONNA TAKE THESE ISLANDS!"
With D.J.
"COME ON YOU FUCKERS! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO!?" shouted D.J. as hired his beam rifle with one hand and the Todesblock with the other, dealing major casualties to the EA invasion force, but more just kept coming, even with Jordan in his Shinn-like berserker state.
A lucky shot hit the beam rifle causing the muzzle to explode.
"Oh shithead, you DID NOT!"
At that moment, he experienced the same thing when he fought Rena as a brown SEED landed in front of him and his eyes became dilated. He tossed the bazooka and the useless beam rifle away, and drew two of his beam sabers.
"I'm gonna go Rurouni Kenshin on your asses!" he yelled and charged at the Daggers, slicing one Long Dagger's head and leg off, stabbing a Strike Dagger in the torso, causing it to explode seconds later, sliced two Buster Daggers in half, and then finally dealing a mule kick to a 105 Dagger.
"What the shit!? What's with this guy!"
"He won't go down!"
"What is he made out of?! Iron!?"
D.J. didn't have time to think on what they were saying as he kept dealing pain on the EA invasion.
Takeshi, meanwhile, had found another Long Dagger and hammered it with the Pile Bunker, before jetting in on one of the EA Carriers, opening up with the arm-mounted Gatling Gun and the cannons and gatlings from the Launcher Striker shoulder units. The barrage tore through the carrier like butter.
Jessica's machine tore past him as she spun around, firing the Haze and taking out a few Daggers. The Haze rifle suddenly clicked, its battery clip drained of power. Growling, she ejected the drained clip and placed it back on her machine's side before grabbing a fresh one and slamming it home. Then she resumed the offensive, placing the rifle aside for now as she grabbed a beam saber and ignited it. She screamed out as she cut through three Daggers with the beam saber, leaving burning hulks to fall to the sea in pieces. She turned, her SEED-dilated eyes narrowing, before she sped at another incoming group.
A Long Dagger fell to a green lance of energy as Tom hovered barely above the sea, his sniper rifle already firing at another Aile Dagger, sending it plummeting to the seas below before another pair of Daggers caught his attention, trying to flank him only to get hit by a trio of missiles each before six of the ten Arrow Drones streaked past. "Lighting up the target!" Ryu informed, using a target designator on a cruiser that was quickly sunk by a missile barrage from the Arrow Drones.
"This is Overlord. Goddamn it, we're a mess down here: that EMP was enough to knock out comms until now. We've got more enemy contacts inbound, including… Son of a bitch, it's the Dominion!" The second ship of the Archangel-Class outgunned everything they had other than her older sister, and the Archangel herself was a little busy elsewhere.
Jordan growled, standing on the wreckage of a sinking EA carrier. "Dammit… I'm on my way!" He shouted as he leaped back into the skies, heading towards the Dominion's location.
"Damnit, get over here… wait, we've got two more contacts! Coming in high!" Overlord said, "Mobile Suits are… huh?"
Jordan felt a strange sensation in the back of his head, as he looked up, and his eyes widened a bit as he saw… things coming from the clouds. Mobile Suits, half of them possessing Monoeyes like a GiNN, but were obviously not GiNN's, with a spiked left shoulder, and a shield attached to their right, each colored dark green. The machines joining them were similar to Strike Daggers, but with a large facescreen covering their eyes.
Most of the others didn't recognize them… but any Gundam fan could recognize the units as MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai's and RGM-79C GM Type C's. And emerging from the clouds, was a single Zanzibar Kai-class Mobile Assault Cruiser, and a Pegasus-class Mobile Assault Carrier of the Grey Phantom type.
"Oh… shiiit…" Jordan muttered. "Ron… problem."
"Bit busy right now, what is it?" Ron said.
Before Jordan could answer, a voice spoke through the comm. "This is Captain Heinrich Von Helsing, of the Zeon Cruiser Ragnarok, and Captain Michael Cassius of the Earth Federation carrier Valkyrie," a German voice said. "We are here to lend you aid - we'll get them off your back."
Ron's voice was deadpan. "You know, I saw this coming."
"What?"
"Not Zeon and the EFSF, you dunce: THIS! What, you thought that May would be the end of it?! The fabric of reality's been fucked with, and unless we can fix it, the multiverse is going to collapse on itself! Why the fuck - Oh, piss off! Do you think I've been so bitchy about reversing the process?!" Ron yelled.
Jordan could barely process that, as most of his thoughts were on the battle, but NOW all of Ron's comments earlier made sense. The presence of those forces was because of Wolfsbayne fucking with reality, and of all the people to notice it before it happened, it had to be the high school dropout. If anything, he should have felt embarrassed.
"This is Captain Johnston of the Canadian Special Tasks Group. We thank you for the assist," Tom called out as he shot down another Dagger. "But… if you don't mind me asking, what are you hoping to gain?"
"Just be glad for the help!" Jessica said as she spun and fired her Haze rifle, taking down three with a wide sweep of the gun. "Any help is appreciated to drive these damn Nazi-copycats away from these islands!"
"That is why we are here - we can elaborate further after they have been dealt with!" Von Helsing said. "All forces, support the Canadians and their allies - Sieg Zeon!"
"Sieg Zeon!" came the reply, as Zaku II's and a handful of Gelgoogs and Doms entered the battlefield - the superior equipped and experienced soldiers of Zeon easily standing their own against the newbies of the Earth Alliance.
"Don't let the Zeeks have all the fun!" a female voice shouted, as launching from the Valkyrie was a single MS - a Gundam-type MS which the fans easily recognized.
"The Alex? I thought that thing was destr - oh, fuck it. We'll do it live."
"What?"
"WE'LL DO IT LIVE! NOW PISS OFF, COUZA!" The Buster attacking Ron's Strike finally lost both its' arms before Ron took its' two long range cannons. "DIE!"
It was only through a ridiculous amount of luck that Couza managed to leap out of the way, but its left leg got blown off. Deciding it was probably best not to fight Ron further, he decided to fall back to the EA fleet.
"GET BACK HERE AND DIE!" And now Ron was in full on rage mode with a nuclear-powered MS. God help us all.
Needless to say… the EA forces were starting to rethink their assault on Hawaii. Despite having inflicted a considerable amount of casualties, for every soldier or tank they destroy, it seemed they destroyed three to five of their own units! And now these 'Federation' and 'Zeon' forces showed up, forcing the EA back to the beaches.
"This is Overlord, enemy forces are pulling back! Keep up the pressure!"
D.J., still in his SEED Mode, was continuing to slice and dice more EA units. He finally saw the other EA Mobile Suits beginning to fall back, and immediately headed back to pick up his discarded Bazooka and went back after them.
He flew over the wreck filled beaches, and saw while they dealt damage to the invasion force, he knew it was a Pyrrhic Victory.
'We lost nearly half of our force defending these islands,' he thought. 'And the EA damn well knows it, too. They'll be back.'
Jessica flipped her machine and fired away with the Haze rifle once more, blowing up two more EA units before cutting one in half with her beam saber. Her eyes were still in SEED mode, and she was determined to make sure that she left a mark on these guys. She heard a beeping sound and her gaze shot towards the power level meter for her machine. She growled as she realized that she was almost out of power; the meter read five percent. She shot one last glance back before slipping her rifle across her machine's back and stowing the beam saber. "Jessica here. I'm RTBing now. Nearing five percent power," she said.
As she flew back, some small part of her tallied up thirty EA units shot down, including Clotho. So she had done a very good job, but not good enough in her book.
'The EA really did a number on us…' she mused sadly as she flew back. 'But at least we held the islands. For now, anyway…'
Takeshi decided to do a little overkill, and opened fire with his shoulder cannons, obliterating another Strike Dagger. He continued chasing after the enemy machines, intent on thinning their numbers as much as possible, but he could tell he was running out of ammo on his guns.
'Jeez, we took a pounding,' he thought. 'I'm no Newtype, I don't have the SEED, I don't have any special abilities - all I have are my developing skills. And my desire to prevent Blue Cosmos and the EA from killing any more people like they killed my parents. So be it: to fulfill that goal, I'm just going to have to take enough levels in Badass that I become a bona fide Badass Normal - and I think the Kyosuke Nanbu path is the best option for me on that count.'
LCAM-X01A Archangel
"We lost 26 ships, 43 Mobile Suits and I don't want to even get into the conventional equipment." Murrue said grimly as she looked at the final report.
"They made us bleed. OMNI Enforcer can make up for losses. We can't. That brings us to the… other problem." Murrue had little choice but to listen to Ron on this. He and Anton were the experts on the universal problem, and everyone knew it.
"The Zeon and the EFSF…" D.J. said with a sigh, as he rubbed his temples to alleviate yet another headache. "We can't just get a break now can we?"
Jessica snorted. "At least we even had the help…" she said. "And that's saying something. We got extremely lucky on that."
"We did NOT get lucky. Us getting lucky would have been OMNI Enforcer and all the Gundam shit disappearing shortly before the battle and us being dazed and confused about not being where we are supposed to be. THIS? This is WORSE. If anything, we're more fucked than we were before."
"It was sarcasm, Ron," she stated. "I'm just glad we got the help."
"Either way, all things considered it could have been a lot worse if Zeon and the Federation hadn't have shown up," Jordan said with a slight groan as he rubbed his head. "Goddammit…"
"You alright?" Kira asked.
"Just a headache… had it since the battle ended," Jordan said, shaking his head. "It's nothing."
"What do we know about this Earth Federation and Zeon?" Murrue asked.
"In the Universal Century, the Earth Federation is the united government body of Earth - similar to the Earth Alliance," Jordan elaborated. "Only they don't have a Blue Cosmos pulling the strings… yet at least. In UC 0083, after Operation: Stardust, a group called the Titans showed up, and messed things up quite a bit… but judging from the fact they are using a Pegasus-class Carrier, and GM Kai's, I think they're from pre-UC 0083.
"As for Zeon… well, to most they are pretty much Space Nazis," he continued with a sigh. "At least that's what most make them out to be… the Principality of Zeon used to be a republic, under the rule of Zeon Zum Deikun. However the Zabi family had him assassinated, and took control - Degwin Zabi taking command and turning it into the principality, putting his children into high-ranking positions in the Zeon military."
"Zeon has done a lot of bad things… they even did a colony drop to take out the Federation HQ of Jaburo, but failed as the colony went off course, destroying Sydney, Australia." Jordan sighed again. "But… that was Gihren's decision and his lackeys… not everyone in Zeon followed his ideas - such as the supporters of the Deikun dynasty. Zeon Zum Deikun wanted independence for the colonies, for all of mankind to move into space… but Gihren, Degwin and their lackeys made a mess of things… which eventually resulted in the One Year War, and later on the Neo Zeon Wars…"
"But… I have a feeling these Zeon forces are different," Jordan said. "They are working with the Federation forces… it's possible they are being lead by a Pro-Deikun Commander at least, like Maharaja Karn or Ramba Ral. And the Federation forces must be lead by an equally competent commander who's not hyper Anti-Spacenoid."
"It's entirely possible… that they crossed over to our universe without any aid from their respective homelands," he continued. "They may have intervened in the battle so they can work with us, gain a source of supplies from the Earth in exchange for them providing additional military muscle… and we can't exactly say no considering our own… situation."
"That's true…" said D.J., "…But to be on the safe side, we need to speak to them first, and confirm if they're really moderates."
"And if they're not and if this is a ploy?" Athrun asked.
"Let's hope it's not," Jordan said with a sigh. "These people are from the Universal Century… the original Gundam series. The men and women fighting for Zeon and the Federation are hardened veterans of MS combat, even more so than ZAFT or the EA. They could probably school the regular pilots pretty easily, believe me. And I have a feeling those two ships aren't the only ones who got crossed over here."
"We have much bigger problems than the ZAF or the EFSF, Jorn." Ron reminded, "Unless you've forgotten, they showed up less than a month after this debacle began. That means only one thing."
"That being?" Jorn said.
"The device is still active, despite everyone telling us they shut it down. Or at least the damn thing doesn't need to be ON for this shit to happen. And if this keeps going, we're going to see a lot more shit before we finally mutter the words 'oh fuck' before the multiverse ceases to exist."
"How are we gonna stop it then?" Jessica asked. "Destroy the device?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," said D.J. "Blowing the thing up might create a mini black hole or something and blow up the whole damn planet with everyone on it."
"Just asking! I didn't mean it like that!" Jessica blurted.
"Not planet, Pat. Multiverse. Think of it like the snowball from hell. The ball just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling, but eventually-"
"The snowball can't hold itself together. It'll fall apart," Athrun said.
"Exactly. And falling apart means-"
"All of creation, all that is, was, and is yet to come… ceases to be."
"If that were true, then why hasn't it happened yet?" Jordan asked. "We've already fused with another universe, and now the UC universe is beginning to bleed through into ours. This collapse should've happened already… but it hasn't. "
"Snowball effects don't happen quickly," Ron said. "It's slow. But unstoppable once it gets beyond a certain point, and it gets faster and faster-"
"We get the idea. So, what, the snowball's on a one-degree angle at the moment?"
"And the angle's only going to get worse over time."
They then heard a knock at the door of the cabin, and the group turned toward.
"Excuse me! It's Professor Podolski, I have something important to tell you!"
Everyone blinked at that, and D.J. was the one to answer the door, and they saw the doctor gasping a little bit and holding something covered in a red cleaning rag.
"What is it you need, Doc?" D.J. asked.
"I brought with me a piece of Wolfsbayne… I've been trying to figure out what happened to it to cause this…" he revealed in the cloth was a small metallic device, with torn out wires. "This is a power conversion regulator… we use this to keep portals stable… it had been cut out from the machine, expertly so, and rigged so diagnostics couldn't tell that it wasn't in properly… it's been sabotaged."
Everyone's eyes widened at that.
"So you're saying someone broke a vital component of this machine that caused it to go haywire and result in this?" Murrue said in shock, as the Professor sighed.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Thankfully, it is easily repairable," he said. "And with it fixed we are also beginning to modify it to repair any other damage caused. However…"
"However what?" Ron said with a scowl.
"I'm afraid we cannot separate our respective realities back to what they once were," he said, which caused everyone to give a groan.
"So you're saying our worlds are stuck like this?" D.J. said.
"Sounds like what he's saying," Takeshi replied. "And if we can't get the main Wolfsbayne device fixed, adjusted, and used ASAP, we're likely going to have a few more universes stuck together with ours, as well."
Everyone nodded at that.
"How soon can you get it fixed and modified, Doc?" Jordan asked.
"I can't say… I need to return back to the main facility in Afghanistan," he said. "Patch it back into the main Wolfsbayne system… at the very least we can prevent reality from destroying itself if this works."
"Then do it…" Ron said, an edge in his tone. "Cause if we merge with a world that has flesh eating zombies or something, I'll feed you to them."
The Russian doctor gulped at that, knowing he was serious.
"Da, of course, I'll get on it right away. If you excuse me," he said and then walked out of the room.
D.J. sighed as he gave Ron a disapproving look.
"That wasn't very helpful, Ron," he said.
"The threat of imminent death always motivates people into working faster. How the hell do you think we survived for THIS long? Besides, we DID have a chance to reverse the process. That chance no longer exists thanks to those jackasses showing up. Now the only thing we can do is stop the snowball before it gets too big to support itself."
"And I agree with you, but still. Damn," D.J. said. "Anyway we should probably meet with the Zeon and the Federation."
Everyone nodded at that, while D.J. saw Ron grumbling and knew what he was thinking about.
'I have a feeling this meeting is gonna come to blows,'
They all knew Ron's general feelings about Zeon, and they had to agree that, historically, at least, he was more than right. Of all the evils the Earth Federation had unleashed, Zeon and its' successors were even worse. Of all the times the feds, under the Titans, threatened to colony drop someone, Zeon did it a grand total of 5 times. And the Granada drop didn't even succeed, making the death total go quite a ways higher on the Zeon side of things.
Not to mention the number of people killed on the colonies that were used for the drop by poison gas.
"You don't have to come, Ron," D.J. said. "I know your opinions about the Zeon are more sour than a lemon."
"I have work to do. If I see anyone that isn't wearing a uniform that's one of ours, expect a corpse." Ron left the cabin, which left the others wondering what the hell was going on.
"Mr Cobb, would you mind explaining what the hell that was about?"
D.J. sighed a bit at that. "Ron has a bit of a grudge against nations who committed atrocities like the Zeon did, and what ZAFT is about to do," he said. "He believes they created the chaos and thus is more supportive of big Government factions like the EA and the Federation, just without the BC Nazi, Earth Elitist bullshit."
"I can see why: one government, one nation, no foreign political bullshit to deal with. And less chance of an all-out war like this one."
"Like I said, not everyone in Zeon is like that," Jordan said. "A large majority: yes, but that's because of Gihren and Degwin's web of propaganda and lies. It's like how Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany, he used those same tactics to rise to power, and very few actually knowing what he was doing behind the scenes. I gamble if more Germans saw what was going on in places like Auschwitz, he would have had a massive decline in support. Zeon is the same - when they crashed a colony into Sydney, they used one of their own commanders as a scapegoat to take all of the blame, despite the fact the operation was planned by the Zabi Family. And said commander didn't even know what was going on until it was too late."
Jordan sighed. "Either way, we should get ready to meet our… new allies," he said as he stood up. "Just try to remain cool, and pretend we know nothing about them."
"Gotcha," Takeshi replied.
"They'll be onboard in an hour or so," Murrue said. "And we're going to be having one of the oddest conversations in history. ANY history."
San Francisco
Bruno Azrael - the elder brother of Muruta Azrael - was not pleased. The invasion of Hawaii had failed, if just barely. While they had left the resistance down to just a handful, and they were down to a mere handful of Mobile suits, the Alliance had lost three machines for everyone the resistance lost. And then they were reinforced from space by two ships using technology that greatly resembled the Minovsky-Ionesco weapons that Ronald Pinkerton had given them information on.
Not only that, but nearly 90% of their own attack force was slaughtered by the previously identified High-Priority targets. Though Ronald Pinkerton, D.J Cobb, Takeshi Yamato (who seemed to have dropped his 'Sword that Cleaves Evil' routine to go for a more brutal approach), Tom Johnston, and Jessica Miller (having left burning hulks from some of their machines and living up to her name as the Burning Haze of Justice) were very dangerous… it was the pilot of the now upgraded Schwarze Calamity that dealt the most damage to their forces.
One mobile suit - one Mobile Suit - single-handedly slaughtered their fleet, their air forces, their MS teams, and even resulted in the death of their first three Extended pilots. Now many of the men were almost literally scared out of their minds about the stories of this… 'Devil' that massacred them, moving faster than any MS previously seen, possibly just as fast as the Freedom… only this pilot wasn't pulling any punches.
'Attacking Hawaii again is… unadvisable.' Bruno mused to himself, looking out the window of San Francisco as construction teams were working to restore the city for the AF citizens. 'We sustained too many losses… if we attack again, we would have to leech off resources from our other fronts - which we cannot afford.'
In fact, they were going to need to rethink their strategy everywhere. While they could use nuclear weapons, the Earth Alliance still had a public image they needed to protect for their own citizens, as well as these 21st century citizens whom they may yet convert to their side. The EMP attack at Hawaii was already a risky gambit, and they cannot afford to do that again.
While Djibril would want the NJCs for nuclear weapons, Bruno was a more… rational thinker. They needed to solve the Earth's energy crisis above all else right now, repower their industrial might so they could continue this war without bankrupting the Atlantic or Eurasian Federations, and the EA itself.
Of course, most of Blue Cosmos would want to divert everything they had to eliminating the 'Space Monsters', causing Bruno to scoff a bit in annoyance. His brother was many things, but a strategist and critical thinker? No, he was both an idiot and a fool. Coordinators were not abominations, they were tools, possibly the greatest tools mankind could ever hope to create. Their engineering marvels such as the PLANT colonies, the N-Jammers, their Mobile Suits, most of the current technological innovations that has made civilization what it was today came from Coordinators.
However, unlike normal tools however, Coordinators could rebel. This whole war was caused by one B.C. blunder after another, and now Coordinators were the bleeding heart 'victims' in everything.
But that… was all going to change, and soon. Thanks to the technological theories Ronald Pinkerton had provided them with, the future was looking much brighter for the EA. He will not utterly destroy ZAFT… but he will use them as an example, to keep other Coordinators in line, to know their place in human society.
Of course before he could do that… there were several nuisances he had to deal with. Not just the 21st Century resistance… but he had to deal with those in the EA who would likely… disagree with his mindset, as well as several particularly troublesome members of ZAFT.
The resistance would be the easy part, as they had almost no equipment left to fight WITH. Even using guerilla combat, they wouldn't last if they simply burned them out. Napalm would do the job for major resistance strongholds like Hawaii. They would be forced to either run away or surrender. "Mr. Azrael, Chairman Djibril wants to speak with you."
Bruno sighed in irritation at the name of the effeminate man. Since his brother's death, and Djibril's ascension, the latter was proving more troublesome than his brat of a sibling. Of course, he needed him because of his connections to LOGOS, as that organization of 'merchants of death' were supplying the EA military with weapons.
"Put him through." He activated the camera to put him through to the son of a bitch that was currently making life hell for everyone.
"Mr. Azrael. I heard that our invasion of Hawaii has failed."
"It was a Pyrrhic victory for the resistance, Djibril. They have almost nothing left-"
"They have the same son of a bitch who gave us back our nuclear arsenal. And the rest of those Tier 1s. How do you plan on making sure Tackett, Pinkerton and the others are turned from a threat into an asset? Hmm?"
"This is not something we can rush into, Djibril," Bruno said. "They won't hold onto Hawaii after the losses they've sustained, they will likely fall back even further… the best candidates for where are likely to head for are either Orb, Oceania, or Japan. Our best bet would be to intercept them en-route… the trouble however is deciding where they will head."
"Japan's resistance forces are highly effective-"
"For reasons we have no clue about."
"They will head to Japan in order to reinforce the JSDF and the civilian volunteers. It IS the last stronghold for the resistance on the planet." Of the two largest holdouts, Japan was more effective. They knew their Mobile Suits, and they knew the terrain. Hawaii was on the verge of falling, so it was safe to simply pull a Rabal and leave them alone until they realized that surrender was the only option. Of course, they COULD head for Orb or Australia, but Orb would turn the military forces away, and Pinkerton's animosity would tear the fragile alliance apart if they headed for Australia. Japan was the only option, and OMNI Enforcer was gaining ground there every day.
Meanwhile - At Hawaii
The meeting with the Commanders of Zeon and the Federation began as soon as communications was established with their fleet in space. The leaders of the resistance, local ZAFT forces, and the Archangel's team were all gathered in the comm room of the Archangel, where a few moments later the front monitor revealed two figures - a woman in a black Zeon uniform, and a man in a standard Federation uniform, each bearing the rank of Admiral on their respective uniforms.
"We thank you for meeting us after all that has happened," the woman said. "I am Admiral Christa Karn, of the Principality of Zeon's Laputa colony."
"And I am Admiral Wolfgang Watkin, Earth Federation Space Forces." The man said.
"I'm Captain Murrue Ramius of the Orb assault carrier Archangel." Murrue greeted, "With me are Jordan Tackett, Jessica Miller, Drew J. Cobb, and Takeshi Yamato of the resistance forces. Thank you for saving our lives earlier, Admirals."
"General John Toolan, U.S Marine Corps," the American General said.
"Fleet Admiral Sergei Iosifovich Avakyants, of the Russian Federation Pacific Fleet," the Russian said nodding. "We thank you for your assistance, comrade."
Christa and Wolfgang nodded before they began to speak. Meanwhile, Jordan's eyes blinked when he heard the name 'Karn' and looking closely, his eyes widened slightly before regaining control of himself.
'She looks like an identical copy of Haman,' he thought. 'The hair, eyes, and her face.'
"Sorry I'm late," Tom apologised as his comm link came online. "Interrogation took longer than expected. Captain Thomas Johnston, Canadian Special Tasks Group."
"It is good too meet you all," Christa said. "I can only assume you have many questions… As do we."
"That we do," Toolan said. "Our… expert has declined to join us for this meeting for reasons he doesn't want to talk about."
'That he wants to shove your heads onto a pike being that reason,' Mu thought, sighing mentally at that.
"I see…" said Christa. "I suppose I should let you go first with the questions."
"Thank you," Toolan said. "Considering the… situation our world is in, I am making the assumption that you and your respective forces are from an alternate universe as well, is that correct?"
"Yes," Watkein said nodding. "From what we have gathered, in our universe the date is Universal Century 0079… we do not use your Cosmic Era, nor the old Anno Domini calendar systems you have created. Though we admit… the similarities between our worlds is astonishing."
"How exactly did you get here?" Jordan asked.
"We are not entirely sure," Christa said. "Our Zeon fleet and the Federal Forces were in a bit of a standoff situation around our colony, but before it could break out into anything worse… we experienced a strange blue field of energy, and moments later… we were at Lagrange Point 2 behind the moon - where the colonies of Zeon should have been if it was our universe. It was our first indication that we weren't in Kansas anymore."
'A light similar to what we saw just prior to our universes coming together,' Jordan thought to himself, nodding.
"Alright… though we are thankful for your assistance in the battle, we hope we could get some… insight as to what you plan to do now," Toolan asked.
Watkein and Karn exchanged a glance, as Christa sighed. "We won't lie to you, General," she said. "Zeon and the Earth Federation in our universe was just concluding a war lasting for a whole year… nearly half of the human population was wiped out due to mistakes made by both sides… some more than others."
"The Earth Federation has loyalty to earth and her colonies, that much is true," Watkein said. "However… since it is unlikely that we may return home unless we figure out how we got here to begin with… we are stuck here. Normally we would have attempted to side with the Earth Alliance, since it seemed to be the closest thing this universe has to the Federation… but we have seen the news reports, and have seen its history… the Federation may have done many bad deeds, but using nuclear weapons on a civilian colony is something we would never do. Hence why we would rather not affiliate ourselves with them… and rather side with a group more… rational, such as yourselves. What we need are supplies, food, fuel and such for our fleet in space… help us provide these things, and you will have my fleet's full support for the duration of this conflict."
"And what of your fleet, Admiral Karn?" Jordan asked. "What do you intend to do?"
Christa sighed. "Well… like Admiral Watkein has said, we are looking for allies for this universe," she said. "Our colony - Laputa - had crossed over with us… we are in the process of moving it to Lagrange Point 4, further away from EA and ZAFT forces. Our first priority is the protection of our citizens, now more than ever."
"Zeon has done many terrible things during the war in our universe… things which should have been prevented, but were allowed to happen," the Admiral said. "It is my hope, however… that in this universe we may be able to redeem ourselves for what our leaders like Gihren Zabi and his father had committed during the war. The things Blue Cosmos and the EA has done… these are the same tactics the Zabi family would have pulled off if they had the time. It is my hope… that with the Admiral's help, we may be able to help you defeat the Alliance, and replace it with something better, something similar to the Federation from our universe, maybe even better. But as for us… all I wish is for the continued independence and safety of the Laputa colony and her citizens. And if I am to accomplish that, the EA needs to be removed from power, and reformed into something better."
"Well, that's something Ron would agree on," D.J said with a short sigh. "Still wouldn't recommend anyone talking to him."
"Why not, Mr. Cobb?" Watkein asked.
"He's not a fan of separate governments. If it weren't for the fact he hates Blue Cosmos more than he hates the former, he'd be working for the Alliance right now." That was something NONE of them wanted. Not only was he their friend, (strained though it was for reasons that were not to be touched on) he was a freaking genius, and if that mind of his was put to use making shit from other Gundam timelines, the resistance would be a little bit beyond boned.
"Hopefully, once this war is over, the EA will become something that we can all join without having a bad taste in our mouths," Jordan said. "Without Blue Cosmos, the EA could actually be a good government… but that's not going to happen for a while though, and we have bigger issues to deal with right now."
"He's right," Toolan said with a sigh. "After the losses we've sustained, even with the Federation and Zeon's help… we won't be able to keep Hawaii after this. We've already evacuated the majority of the civilians, what ones are left we'll escort over to Orb… if the Orb Union allows us, we'll take some refuge there for a short while, resupply and repair what damage we can before heading for Japan."
"From what intel I can get, Japan's actually having the best luck fighting the Alliance, it seems," Tom said. "The EA have only just recently established a beachhead, and are slowly moving up from Kyushu. The JSDF is doing good, but they'll need help if they're gonna hold the islands."
"We could send an advanced force to help them hold on," D.J suggested.
"We need the Zeon and Federation forces here," Toolan said. "We're too undermanned-" They froze before they remembered something. the Iowa had limited MS carrying capabilities now (two machines could stand on the decks) and Ron was by no means going to tolerate Zeon's presence. He was always vocal about that. "I think we have the right man to send to help the JSDF out."
"Speaking of… I wish to ask a favor from you, General Toolan," Rau said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. "I have recently received word from chairman Zala… he wishes to meet with a representative from your resistance, to formally establish our… alliance."
Everyone blinked in surprise at that, considering Zala's own racist views on Naturals.
"Well… that's good news," D.J. said, before thinking to himself, 'I think...,'
Toolan nodded as well before he began to think on who to send… until a name popped into his head.
"I think Colonel Rosen will be perfect for this kind of duty," Toolan said, causing the others to look at the Marine General. "I looked through whatever files we had left, and I found hers among them. She's got good marks from VMI, and and among her areas of expertise is Foreign Relations. She's perfect for the job, I spoke to Dr. Podolski and he said that she's done her job well while in Wolfsbayne."
"I volunteer to go with her," Jordan said, surprising everyone else in the room. "No offense to ZAFT of course, but we don't really know what to expect up there. It's best she leaves while having a bodyguard who knows how to use a Mobile Suit."
"Actually, Chairman Zala wishes to meet with you as well, Mr. Tackett," Rau said, causing Jordan - and the others - to blink in surprise. "I had forwarded my report on the last battle… he is understandably interested in meeting the Natural who near single-handedly annihilated the Earth Force's 12th fleet."
The others, which was the Archangel crew and the people who know about the man in general, all blinked at that.
"Well… uh, that's new," said D.J., while Jorn and the others all nodded dumbly at that in agreement.
"I'll have you and your machines transferred to my ship, so we can get to one of the mass drivers still under ZAFT control." Which would also allow the technicians to take a look at the machines and find out how the hell they were powered, because those weren't batteries and they didn't have any spare NJCs laying around.
"I will take care of my machine, don't worry," Jordan said. "I know how it runs and operates - your technicians don't."
"Understandable," Rau said, silently cursing, but it was a minor setback. "Once you and Colonel Rosen are ready, we can board my submarine and head for Kaosiung."
"And while you're doing that, Jorn," D.J. said, "I'm thinking about heading over to Japan to help them out with the REA Alliance forces. Also, call it a gut feeling, but I believe the JSDF is hiding something until the EA lets their guard down."
"Ok, while we go talk with the supreme commander of ZAFT, Ron and D.J. are going to be saving Japan from the Alliance. What the hell is he up to, anyways?"
"He's taking the Iowa with him, plus he's doing some work on the Missouri. He's been… avoiding that ship." Considering he would have to do to it what OMNI Enforcer did to the Iowa just to get it to the same spec, he was careful to do so.
"R-ight," Toolan said. "And what will your forces do in the meantime, Admiral Karn and Watkein?"
"Most of our forces are still moving the colony to L4, but the Ragnarok will remain with your fleet to aid in its defense," Christa said. "Once Laputa has arrived at L4 we can lend a bit more support."
"Our forces are a bit more free, as we're looking for EA targets we could possibly take in space," Watkein said. "We currently have our eyes set on the Eurasian asteroid base Artemis… its lightwave barrier tech, from what we've uncovered so far, could be of particular use to us all, and our forces need to have a base of operations in space that doesn't have Zeon personnel everywhere… no offense, Admiral Karn."
"None taken."
"Anyways, while we do that however, the Valkyrie shall also remain planetside. However I may be able to spare a few MS teams once we take Artemis," the Federation admiral said. "And inform… Ron that if he doesn't want Zeon help, the Federation is more than happy to aid him. The Valkyrie can either remain with your fleet, or follow him to Japan - one of our best pilots is onboard her, along with the Gundam Alex, one of our top prototypes. It should give you all a considerable edge in battle."
"We'll have to ask him that. I'm pretty sure he's pissed off enough that bringing his team is going to be a problem." 'And if those two are his friends, he's not going to be happy at all with anyone or thing.' "I can send someone to talk to him. Thankfully, we know which ship is which. I'll send someone to talk to him."
"I'll go, since we're going to the same place," said D.J., and then sighed. "I just hope he isn't strangling some poor sod who crossed him to death,"
USS Missouri
Ron was avoiding people for a VERY good reason. He was willing to kill simply because of the Z.A.F. presence in Hawaii. 'Fucking separatists. I don't CARE if they follow Deikun's ideology; that son of a bitch is just as bad as the Zabis.' If Zeon Zum Daikun didn't pull the independance card out of his ass, the Zabis would never have come to power and SIX fruitless, pointless wars would never have happened. 65% of humanity, dead, all because of one man. The intent didn't matter to Ron: only the end result.
In short, Zeon was the ultimate villain: the one who unintentionally spawned them all. "Lieutenant Pinkerton, please report to the bridge. Lieutenant Pinkerton, the bridge, please."
Ron sighed as he entered the bridge. "What?" he asked.
"We have a message from Toolan," the XO of the Missouri said. "Once you get onboard the Iowa, you and pilot Cobb will be joining with that Federation ship - the Valkyrie - to Japan."
"The Iowa is all we need: three nuclear powered Mobile Suits can handle whatever's thrown our way." Ron had developed a simple rotational schedule for his team: for a good percentage of the trip, his machine would be in the air, about half a kilometer from the ship, covering it from air and sea attack. "I'm going back to the Iowa: there's nothing I can do for this rustbucket with the superstructure still attached." Ron left the bridge, anger still radiating from him like a wave. He was SURE any Newtypes could feel him, but seriously did not care. So what if they felt it? The Zeon jackasses deserved his ire.
Later - Pearl Harbor
Dock of ZAFT Submarine Cousteau
"Just don't do anything crazy up in space, alright?" D.J. said as Jordan had his few belongings packed and ready, loaded into the cockpit of the Schwarze Sieg. "And keep your eyes on Rau."
"I'm always keeping my eye on him," Jordan said. "And I've got failsafes. I managed to make a similar retinal scanner like the ones in 00, so if anyone who's not me tries to get in this thing gets a warning… and if they try again, self-destruct. I'm not taking any chances here, but we're not sending anyone up into space on their own."
Patriot sighed. "Just be careful, man," he said, before he smirked slightly. "Won't be able to bail you out of trouble this time."
"Oh please, I bailed you out of trouble twice as much as you have me," Jordan said with a smirk of his own. "Remember the bear trap?"
"How the hell was I supposed to know the whole freaking area was filled with 'em!" Patriot shouted, as he rubbed an area of his leg. "Whoever made those damn things needs to get shot… or trapped by their own invention..."
Jordan just chuckled, shaking his head. "Take care Patriot," he said, as the two shook hands.
"Same to you, Jorn." Patriot said, before Jordan approached the cable, ascending him into the cockpit of the MS, as he moved it towards the Vosgulov-class Submarine's hangar bay made available for him.
As he got into the air, Jordan saw the Iowa moving out of the harbor. WELL ahead of the supposed schedule. "What the hell is he doing?" He muttered. Jordan turned on the comm, contacting the Iowa. "Ron, what the hell are you doing?"
"My fucking job." Ron Grouchily said, "Patriot can follow me if he wants, but I'm not guaranteeing his safety."
The stubborn son of a bitch was finally getting on Jordan's nerves. 'You know, maybe getting away from earth's gravity - and Ron - might be a better idea than I originally thought.' he thought.
He then looked and saw that Patriot noticed his ride leaving without him as his eyes comically bugged out like an Naruto anime character, and he swore he could hear him shouting profanities at Ron as he took off like a bullet to where his Astray Dagger was.
"Push the reactor to its' absolute limit: I want to get to Japan before the end of the week. Flank speed, bearing due east-northeast as soon as we're clear of the harbor!"
"Sir, we're leaving before we were supposed to. Shouldn't we take it easy?"
"No. Make for 30 knots. And prep my Strike: I'll take over for Tanner."
"Uh, yes sir," said the Ensign in charge as Ron turned to head to his new, before he saw the Comm officer wince as he took off his headset.
"Uh, sir. Pilot Cobb says that he's royally pissed at you," he said, as Ron heard the shouting coming from the ear phones.
"He can stew all he likes." His mood was bad enough from learning that everything he had developed was now being used by OMNI Enforcer, but Zeon had pushed him too far. He was tempted to just leave the Iowa behind, make his way to Japan with the Strike and kill everything he could to make himself no longer a complete and total asshole. 'Too bad I can't vent on people HERE. It would make it SO much faster.'
With Patriot - Inside the cockpit of the Astray Dagger
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT BASTARD LEFT ME BEHIND!" he shouted as he slammed his helmet on while making sure he had his duffle bag, with some stuff he was taking, was properly secured. He then began the startup sequence all the while thinking of ways of making that Canadian Cockbite suffer a thousand deaths before he was done with him.
"I had to deal with enough shit with Tony, but that guy is REALLY starting to piss me off like no tomorrow!" he said as the Mobile Suit fully activated and launched himself into the air following after the Iowa.
On the ground, Rena was walking around the harbor as she saw the Astray Dagger taking off toward the departing Battleship. As she watched the Mobile Suit begin to move further away, she raised her hand to her chest as she felt her heart ache for some strange reason.
'Why do I have this feeling?' she asked herself, 'Why do I feel like... '
"Excuse me…" said a voice and Rena turned and saw a woman who looked to be the same age as her with red hair and wearing a pilot suit she'd never seen before.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Are you by chance Rena Imelia?" the young woman asked her.
"Yes. And you are…"
"Christina Mackenzie. I'm a pilot for the Gundam ALEX. I heard you were a pretty good pilot, yourself."
Rena thought for a moment before she recalled some info from what some of the Archangel's crewmen had been saying about people from yet another universe. "You're… from one of those fleets from the other universe?" She asked.
Christina smiled and nodded. "Yup, Lieutenant Commander of the EFSF, and in charge of the Valkyrie's MS complement actually." She said.
Rena blinked at that. "I see, so what do you want to talk to me about?" she asked and watched as Christina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Well, it's kind of… embarrassing," she said. "You see, the thing is… back in our universe we sorta left one pilot behind by mistake, and we have one extra mobile suit, but no pilot. We were going to pick him up after this mission, but…" she shook her head. "Anyways, I've spoken with the captain of the Archangel, and my Captain onboard the Valkyrie… and we have a bit of a proposal for you."
Rena blinked once more, as she quickly figured out what she was trying to offer. "You want me to pilot it?" she asked, and Christina nodded.
"Yes. We've managed to get some of your files thanks to data we were given about this universe," she said. "You're a very capable pilot - especially if you're an instructor to pilots of the Gundam-type MS of your world, and piloted a Gundam type yourself before you were captured. The Federation could really use someone like you… I know you may have some sense of loyalty to the Alliance-"
"No… not anymore." Rena said, causing Christina to blink. "When D.J. - when Pilot Cobb captured me… my head hit something, and I got a bit of amnesia… though my memories have since returned…" She shook her head. "I just… I can't bring myself to return to the EA after… after all this… after seeing how the rest of the world, how these people view them."
Christina nodded in understanding. "It's actually the same way in our universe," she said, causing Rena to look at her. "The Earth Federation is mostly seen as militarist oppressors by the people of the Space Colonies and Luna, it's why Zeon managed to gain its independence so easily. But I believe the Federation can still change, your EA could still change… all it takes is the right people to take the first steps to bring that change about."
Rena thought about that before she nodded with a small smile on her face.
"I believe you're right about that," she said. "And I would gladly pilot one of your mobile suits."
Christina grinned happily at that. "Good. Oh I should tell you, we're leaving within the hour, since the jerk in charge of that re-vamped Battlewagon took off without us," she said, making Rena chuckle.
"Right, so, where are we heading?" she asked.
"Japan," the Federation pilot said. "Land of the Rising Sun."
Patriot-112: And another great ending to this fic! Start playing the 'It's a Good Day to die' Song!
Takeshi Yamato: Looks like Bruno Azrael is much smarter than both Djibril AND Muruta - he's still a bit racist, but a bit more pragmatic than the other two, as well.
Ron the True fan: (Screaming at top of lungs while chasing Azrael the Younger with M6 heavy tank) Death will not save you from me, you son of a bitch!
Titanic X: Yeah. And on top of that, things are really gonna heat up these next few chapters.