KnightOfZaku: Hildolfr will be one of the many elements of the battle ahead. I'll let the chapter explain the rest.
Operation Wyrm Part V: Heinrich's Requiem
Somewhere in the Gurktal Alps, Southern Europe
After some searching, the 300th Newtype Corps had managed to find a small valley in which they could stop and set up camp. The small unit pooled their supplies and ensured no Federation forces were lingering in the area before Ryan finally took the liberty of calling a strategy meeting within the Weasel APC that served as their mobile HQ.
"The enemy is sending in teams of Type 61s and other fast vehicles to search for stragglers and surviving units. The E.F.F is regularly organizing air reconnaissance as well, and is maintaining 24/7 vigilant watch on the frontlines." Gaia noted,
"Right. Seven, any luck contacting Yuri?" Ryan asked,
"None…" Seven shook her head,
"As it stands, we have three options." Char explained, "The first is that we hold out until we are rescued."
"Which we have absolutely no guarantee will come." Ryan interjected, "We're miles behind enemy lines, Zeon forces are reeling from this blow, High Command may decide to cut their losses."
Gaia nodded, "The second option is that we surrender." He said calmly, "I hate to be that person here, but we're low on virtually everything. Food, ammunition…we might exhaust ourselves to death before the Federation even gets close to us."
"The problem is that a great many of us might get executed." Ryan pointed out, "Char and I will die for sure, and you and the other Quad-Stars might not exactly escape punishment."
"That leaves us with one last option." Ryan said steely, "We attempt to break through the Federation lines under the cover of night."
"They'll be expecting that." Char noted, "And they'll throw everything they have at us."
"Yes. But it might be our best option." Ryan replied, "If we wait, we might end up being wiped out before help comes. If we surrender, the majority of us will be put to death…or worse."
"Jonathan, anything on your sensors?" Rose asked,
"Not yet…" Jonathan shook his head,
"Keep searching." Rose ordered,
'What are they planning…?' Rose's mind began to wander. They had to have realized they were trapped by now. Were they planning to wait for help? No, they know they'll be dead before then.
Surrender? It was possible, but Rose doubted the Black Knight would go for it. So that left one option.
Breaking out.
"Jonathan. Concentrate your search towards the South." Rose ordered,
"Why?" Jonathan asked,
"They might attempt a breakout." Rose explained, "We'll cut them off then."
A group of Type 61s rolled over a cliffs ledge, on top of their cupulas, their cameras swerved relentlessly, seeking out any sign of the Zeon forces.
Without warning, a bazooka came and detonated in front of them, causing the ledge to collapse as several Type 61s fell down trying to escape the sudden ambush. The rest were quickly dealt with by 120mm machine gun fire.
"Captain, that should be all of them." A pilot explained,
"Good." Captain Elmer Snell nodded, "Let's move, we can't afford to dawdle."
On command, a group of hastily camouflaged Zakus emerged from the ground.
"Do we know if any other units survived?" A pilot named Dagaba asked,
"No, unfortunately." Elmer replied, "As of now, we're operating as the sole survivors."
"Then how should we proceed, Captain?" Dagaba asked,
"We should attempt to sneak out of their lines under the cover of night, we don't have the power for a full frontal assault."
"Understood."
That night
The mobile suits of the 300th Newtype Corps came alive with the quiet sounds of mono-eyes being activated.
Alma yawned in her cockpit, "I hate night missions…"
"This is your first night time sortie." Marion pointed out sleepily,
"I know, and I hate it." Alma replied
"Less talking, more walking." Gaia admonished the girls, and they fell silent.
"Commander!" Seven said suddenly, "Mobile suits detected!"
Instantly, the entire corps and their mobile suits hastily disguised themselves against the ground as Ryan tentatively began to ask questions.
"IFFs?"
"They're reading friendly." Seven stated,
"Might be another false flag." Char stated, "We can't trust it."
"So what do we do?" Alma asked, "At this rate, they'll definitely spot us."
"I'll try hailing them." Immediately, Ryan began switching the comms channels.
"Hang on!" Dagaba paused in his Zaku, "Captain! We're being hailed by a friendly!"
"Don't trust it, it might be the Federation." Elmer said, "Patch it through."
After a brief bit of static, Ryan's voice came through.
"...This is the Commander of the 300th Newtype Corps speaking, identify yourselves."
At first, there was silence, and Ryan's hand hovered dangerously over his controls.
"This is Captain Elmer Snell." One of the Zakus said at last, and Ryan audibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone. It's alright." Ryan rose out of the ground along with the rest of the Corps.
"Thank god, they're actually Zakus…" Alma said relievedly,
Captain Snell looked around, "Is this…all that's left?"
Ryan bowed his head, "Unfortunately so. At least, this is all we know of."
"This is about 50 mobile suits…" Elmer noted,
"And the enemy has about twenty. On top of countless tanks and aircraft." Char inserted,
"Are you attempting to sneak out of the enemy lines as well?" Elmer asked,
"Yes, I'd assume that was your plan as well?" Ryan asked,
"You assumed correctly. Nonetheless, we can't stand here, we need to move." Elmer said, and Ryan nodded in agreement.
"Have you spotted any major enemy formations?" Ryan asked,
"None. Just squads of Type 61s, it's…worrying." Elmer nodded,
"They're waiting for us to make our move. Hopefully, it'll be with an army at our backs." Ryan replied, before proceeding on the way.
"Cinderella One, anything in sight?" The Flatmouse pilot asked his comrade.
"Nothing. Minovsky Particles are a bitch. And the night isn't helping either." Cinderella One replied,
"Keep looking. We lost contact with the 1st Platoon somewhere around here…" Cinderella Two stated,
The two planes banked off and continued to circle the area.
The irregular company formed for the mission had set up for the night near the frontline, and were currently sleeping in either tents or their vehicles.
However, Rose was still awake, monitoring radio traffic and looking for any sign of the enemy they had lost.
Without her even noticing, Lilith had snuck in and set down a cup of coffee in front of her.
"You're up too…?" Rose asked,
Lilith nodded, "The enemy can show up at any time. You should drink this."
Rose nodded thankfully, and gulped the coffee down before finishing it with a loud Aah~
"You know…I don't know much about you, Lilith." Rose stated, "Or much of the team, for that matter." She said contemplatively,
Lilith didn't reply, as Rose continued. "So…what is your story, Lily?"
"Lily?" Lilith raised an eyebrow,
"Too personal?" Rose asked, and Lilith simply looked away before quietly saying:
"It's…been a while since anyone called me that." She admitted,
Rose, seemingly understanding, nodded. "What about where you're from?"
"Australia, Newcastle." Lilith said simply, and Rose put two and two together.
"Oh." Rose looked at her, and Lilith stared into the girl's eyes, with none of her normal cheeriness and just pure sympathy and compassion.
And her heart thawed, just a little bit.
"Enemy aircraft!" Seven said quickly, and immediately everyone went prone on the ground, covering themselves in whatever they could camoflauge themselves with.
"At this rate, we may need to wait another night…" Char stated,
Suddenly, Ryan heard the tell-tale popping of a mobile suit malfunction.
"Who was that?!" Ryan said panickedly, 'If their suit is sparking…'
"I-I'm sorry Ryan-chan…but it's my mobile suit…" Alma said apologetically, and on cue, one of her Zaku IIs joints began to spark.
"Shit!" Gaia swore, "They're coming back around!"
"Hey…" Cinderella One leaned into his camera monitor, "Cinderella Two, what is that down there?"
"I dunno…I'll pop off some flares and see if we can get a good picture." Cinderella Two moved his plane into a lower altitude and began to fire off flares.
"Holy shit! Pull up!" Cinderella Two said suddenly, "Zeon forces! We found their remaining forces! Gotta be at least 50 of em!"
The two Flatmouses pulled up.
"They saw us!" Marion cried, grabbing her rifle, she aimed at one and pulled the trigger, it burst into red flame.
"Damn! Everyone! Move!" Ryan and the rest of the corps stood up in their mobile suits, opening fire on the last remaining Flatmouse before moving out of the valley.
Rose and Lilith looked at each other in silence, before the radio began squaking with chatter.
"Enemy spotted ~ Coordinates 46.88, 13.91 ~ Almost 50 ~." The message was regularly cut with static before finally, an explosion was heard and the radio went silent.
Lilith and Rose stared at it for a second, before Rose finally moved first, almost toppling her chair with the speed with which she moved for the telephone.
"Mobilize all forces! We need to move out! The enemy has been spotted!"
It hadn't taken long to sortie the irregular company, before long, everyone was ready and awaiting orders.
"Listen up." Rose explained as she started her RX-78T-1 Golden Gundam, "The enemy is planning to break through our lines overnight. As such, they're closer than we predicted. We are to intercept and destroy them."
As she said that, a row of Gundams came online, their eyes flashing green as they stood, weapons at the ready. Below them, Type 61s activated their headlights and infantry boarded their APCs.
"Move out!"
"Attention!" Uragang shouted as M'Quve stepped out onto the front of the room. Virtually every special forces and ace pilot team on Earth had been assembled. The likes of the Cyclops Team, the Wolf Gar Corps, Midnight Fenrir, Southern Cross Corps, M'Quve had even ordered the transfer of forces from the 5th Terrestrial Mobile Division in the South in the form of Team Red under the command of Colonel Douglas Rodin.
"You may be wondering why I have gathered all of you here." M'Quve began, "To put it simply, we have been had. The Federation is on the verge of completely annihilating our mobile suit forces in Southern Europe."
This elicited several gasps, and a singular hand went up.
"Lt. Commander?" M'Quve asked,
"How did this happen? I find it hard to believe that the Federation suddenly launched a miracle counter-offensive." Lt. Commander Gerhart Schmitzer asked,
M'Quve let out a little chuckle, "Good question. Due to the incompetence of our intelligence forces, we were fed false information about a counter-attack into Poland that would've left the Southern front vulnerable. In reality, this was a ploy to separate us from our mobile suit forces. A trick which worked much to their effect."
"Wouldn't this be better suited for a larger force?"
"Our objective isn't the destruction of the Federation forces, but the recovery of the few we have left. We don't have larger forces to send."
The room fell silent as Uragang continued the presentation, "Federation forces have concentrated around a pocket here-" He used a pointer to point at a spot on the map, "-in the Gurktal Alps. Using our air forces, you will drop into the pocket - linking up with a Komusai carrying the final element of your operation - and break through the Federation Forces while Zeon forces simultaneously launch a counteroffensive into the pocket." Uragang paused, before asking: "Any questions?"
After receiving nothing but silence, he nodded. "Dismissed. You sortie in three hours."
"Commander! Type 61s! At least five of them!" Seven said suddenly,
"They're here. Take them down!" Ryan ordered, drawing his 120mm machine gun, a hail of machine gun fire ripped through the tanks before they had a chance to fire back.
Without warning, however, a hail of missiles came from above.
"Enemy attack aircraft! Identified as AF-01 Mongoose!" Seven yelled over the comms.
"Keep moving! Don't let any of their ordinance hit you or you'll regret it!" Ryan yelled, and right as he said that, one of Elmer's Zakus was hit by a bomb in the back, causing its backpack to sputter and explode, completely destroying its top half.
Despite this, the Zakus kept moving, bombs and cannon fire lighting up the ground beside them while kicking up dust and debris.
Without warning, the Mongooses pulled off.
"What the…?" Alma wondered,
'Somethings wrong…' Casting his gaze up at the sky, a vision crossed his eyes.
"Altitude 9,200 feet." A pilot in a Federation uniform adjusted his bomb scope.
"Damn Zeeks won't know what hit them…" His partner sneered,
"Less chatter. Opening bomb bays now." A third soldier said. "Keep out for enemy fighters, can't mess this up."
"Got it."
'No way!' Ryan slid to a halt, and looked up, zooming in with his Zakus main camera, sure enough, he could very faintly see lights high above them.
"Ryan?" Alma slowed down beside him,
"Enemy bombers! Depp Rogs!" Ryan broadcast,
"No way…how high are they?! I can't detect them!" Seven said incredulously,
"Doesn't matter, keep running!" He emptied his remaining ammo in vain at them before tossing it aside.
The Zakus switched up their movements from a single formation to a mix of zigging and zagging to avoid being hit by the oncoming bombs.
Within minutes, it wasn't long before bombs began raining down, one Zaku had its head blown off by a bomb that struck vertically, and stumbled around blindly before being taken down by another platoon of Type 61s that appeared. Another was hit in the leg by a bomb and toppled over.
'At this rate…no one will be left!' Ryan thought, then, without warning, a high velocity shell tore through a mobile suit of the 300th Newtype Corps.
"Twenty-Six!" Alma screamed, and Ryan's heart twinged, Twenty-Six wasn't more than fourteen years old.
"E-enemy mobile suits!" Seven choked out in fear, screaming as her Weasel was jolted as another shell impacted barely a few meters short of it.
"What the hell!" Gaia looked to his side, where - sure enough - several mobile suits were cresting the hill nearby. They were the same bastardized ones they had seen earlier, with Zaku-like bodies but with visor-like sensors.
'The enemy is closing in all around us…we can't outrun them at this rate…but if we fight, then we'll be sitting ducks for the E.F.A.F.' Ryan analyzed the situation.
Unknown to him, he wasn't the only one who had come to that conclusion.
Without warning one of the Zakus suddenly turned to face the enemy, kneeling down, it took aim at one of the enemy mobile suits and tore it apart with 120mm machine gun fire.
"Heinrich…?" Zero paused,
"Don't worry! I'm just taking a few of them out!" Heinrich proceeded to snipe the head of another enemy mobile suit before throwing a cracker grenade at another.
"Heinrich no!" Ryan turned back,
"Commander!" Heinrich cut him off, "Keep moving."
"You can't! Too many of us…Too many of us have already died!" Alma screamed,
The only response was silence as Heinrich proceeded to draw his heat hawk and rush the enemy.
"Sir!" One Zanny pilot said, "An enemy mobile suit is charging straight at us!"
"Take it down, then continue firing!" Their captain ordered, however, in a move that took them by surprise, the Zaku rushed towards them with his heat hawk, cleaving one of their mobile suits before proceeding to spin-kick another Zanny, crushing its cockpit in.
"How is it doing that…?" The first Zanny pilot barely had time to wonder before the heat hawk sheared right through his mobile suit.
"I didn't know he could move like that…" Alma said, stunned.
"I don't think anyone did…" Marion noted,
"He's going to kill himself." Ryan muttered.
However, Heinrich showed no signs of slowing down as he weaved between the mobile suits. Hacking and chopping at them, leaving disembodied heads or cockpits with bullet holes through them.
'It's strange.' Heinrich noted to himself. Everything seemed to come so naturally to him. He felt like he could do…anything. Much less take care of a few measly mobile suits with overpowered cannons.
"Eat this!" He shouted, cleaving a Zanny directly in two with his Heat Hawk before kicking it aside to riddle another Zanny full of bullets. It jerked wildly with the impact before toppling over backwards.
Suddenly, without warning, a shot echoed from behind him, and he felt a tearing sensation below him, followed by immense pain, letting out a scream that could be heard across all the comms.
"Heinrich!" Ryan shouted, his voice laced with concern.
"S-shit." Heinrich said, staring down at his legs before throwing his Heat Hawk into the last remaining Zanny that had inflicted the wound upon him. "Sorry…commander. I got reckless." He didn't mention his - now missing - left leg, he didn't want them to worry.
"It's alright…just come back." Ryan said in relief and Heinrich nodded.
Heinrich's Zaku turned to them, and he began to limp towards his still retreating comrades, dawn breaking over his shoulders.
"I'm coming, commander-" Heinrich began. But he never got to finish his sentence, as a beam ripped right through the center of his mobile suit.
The 300th Newtype Corps and their allies paused in shock as Heinrich's Zaku lurched forward off the hill, and a shrill shriek could be heard over every comm available.
"HEINRICH!"
A/N: A major character death. Yes, I promised death, and you have received it. And we're not done yet. Of course, I ended up giving Heinrich what I like to call "Last Stand Powers" (Essentially where a character gains abilities far beyond their power level right before their death), to make his death more dramatic.
In other news, I finally watched Cucuruz Doan's Island about two or three days ago on the 9th. Absolutely loved it, but I do feel like it needed a longer run time, and if I'm being honest, the majority of the movie is just filler with [SPOILER ALERT] Amuro getting to know Doan and his kids. But the ending fight was absolutely epic and - all in all - the movie was worth the wait and hype.
Official Wiki Link: official-solar-century .fandom. com