A/n
Okay, lots to say, before I get into this chapter. First, I've taken the time and it wasn't short to go through earlier chapters, all 17 of them. I did grammar fixing, polishing and fluffing up, whatever way you want to put, there are additions throughout, mostly in chapter 12 and earlier for the additions. Chapter 15 through 17 are just minor grammar changes and nothing else really. It would be nice for some to go back and read the chapter and tell me something that says that I didn't do what I did for little to nothing. Second point, at the end of chapters that I introduced something new that wasn't a person, there are specs for it at the end of that chapter or the next. I still don't anything from the Gundam Universe, as much as I would love to own some things. All I claim is my characters, custom machines, and musings. Now enough from me, on with the tale I'm here to present!
Phase 18: Battle on the Homefront
June 5th 71 C.E.
-Neutral pov-
Unknown Earth Alliance base, Atlantic Federation Territory
Within an underground base of the Earth Alliance, a meeting was taking place involving the leadership of the Alliance. Small groups of people, both men and women were muttering and whispering to each other, while others waited for order to be called and the meeting to start. Once all that were supposed to be at the meeting arrived, order was called and all took their seats.
The meeting began with a review of what had occurred at JOSH-A and the success that had brought with the blow to ZAFT's fighting strength. Yet, that was shadowed over by the recent loss at Panama, especially the destruction of the mass driver that had been the supply line to space for the Earth Alliance. The Alliance only had controlled the Panama mass driver, the other five were denied to them. ZAFT had two of the worlds six mass drivers, one in Victoria after they had taken with the base from the Alliance. The second mass driver was by their Carpentaria base, and they defended it heavily from the Alliance's assaults. The other three mass drivers were under the Human Federation's control and regulation by them, enforced by their military. There was the Republic's Shen Lóng mass driver, Orb's Kaguya mass driver and the Euros Coalition's Chronos mass driver. None of the three had been accessible to the Earth Forces at any time. The Federation had been and still was adamant that no outside military force would have use of the mass drivers, period, no discussion or debate.
This left the Earth Alliance without a mass driver to supply their space forces or get more equipment up into space to fight ZAFT. That would quickly become a serious problem if nothing changed and there was no argument in that. After being shown pictures and video of the battle or rather ZAFT defeating the Alliance around the Panama Spaceport, there came angry muttering. "This is humiliating! Our success at JOSH-A is almost worthless now with the loss of Panama!" grumbled one.
"Our lunar base will quickly run out of supplies with the line from Panama cut off. How are we to launch a counter-offensive with this kind of situation?" another asked in slight worry.
"The plan to recapture Victoria is being accelerated because of the events of Panama, but taking the base back without damaging the mass driver won't be easy," remarked another man.
A younger man was sitting at the head of the table, listening to the mutterings of the others who led and represented the Earth Alliance. He had short blonde hair along with hazel colored eyes which were showing the slightest annoyance. The young man was wearing a purple dress shirt and tie along with a white suit. The Natural young man was Muruta Azrael, the current director of the anti-Coordinator organization, Blue Cosmos and he also filled the position as the head of the Alliance's Defense Department.
"What about the Federation's member nations? Has there been any reply from any of them for assistance?" inquired another man.
A few chairs down from Azrael, a man spoke up to the question, "We've repeatedly requested assistance from them, but none of their current leaders have budged at all about their policies for their mass drivers. They state that no military operations of either the Earth Alliance nor ZAFT will be permitted access to any of the three mass drivers they control. Blass and Athha in particular have been vehemently against any external military forces entering their nations if they are active or on duty in any way. But, all of the Federation's leaders are pretty much the same, they still say they want nothing to do with the activities of the Earth Alliance or the Earth Forces in relation to the war."
"Oh really?" asked Muruta Azrael, speaking for the first time for this meeting. He was tapping his fingers in frustration at what he was hearing, "Is that because the member nations of Federation are neutral?"
All around the conference table went silent and glanced to its head where Azrael was as he continued, "That's not right, now is it ladies and gentlemen? For them to have 'peace', not when all the others are fighting, risking their lives battling mankind's enemy."
There was muttering was heard at Azrael's statement, one of the other leaders made his voice heard, "Azrael, kindly do not put this in that extreme a manner, we aren't members of Blue Cosmos like you are, keep that in mind."
Azrael shrugged and waved a hand, "My apologies ladies and gentlemen, I meant no offense to any of you," he said, before refocusing on the matter at hand. "However, I simply cannot understand why you people have tolerated these nations which do this. The Federation's member nations only hide behind such foolish rhetoric and beliefs they claim to uphold. The point has been reached and surpassed in this conflict, when being neutral is a luxury that can't be afforded. All need to be in this war and choose a side."
"Whether that's true or not, all the member nations of the Human Federation are recognized as separate from the Alliance and part of the Human Federation. We have to acknowledge that."
Azrael shrugged again, not speaking his thoughts of his personal opinion of the Human Federation and its policies. "Fine, but those nations are nations of Earth, aren't they? That being said, they should then have an obligation to help the Alliance in some way, even if it isn't fighting. Is that not fair?" Azrael reasoned.
There was a mixture of reactions, from agreement to Azrael's statement to utterances of bringing the wrath of the Federation military down upon the Alliance. Azrael didn't wait for any to speak out, "If you would like, I can lead the negotiations with them and help them see the truth," he said.
A man across the table, fixed Azrael with his gaze, "What does this 'help' of yours entail? Remember, the Federation's military is strong and we're in no position to take them on at the same time as we're fighting ZAFT. A foolish mistake of impatience could spell disaster for us all."
Azrael paused for a moment, but then continued, "The priority is to acquire someone's mass driver, and as soon as possible. I say, why go for just one when we can have more?" enforcing his point.
"Granted, the need of a mass driver is important, but," started a woman.
Azrael smiled to the table at large, "You'll all be busy with the operation to retake Victoria. It would be more efficient to divide the workload between us, no? And while we're at it, we might even get the chance to test the new toys," he reasoned
"You're planning to use the new machines for this?!" said a man.
Azrael's smile, turned into a smirk, "That depends on how our 'neighbors' react in this. Out of the leaders of the Federation member nations that I've read up on, there are two in particular that have a reputation for being stubborn. So, if Ellen Blass and Uzumi Athha are even half as stubborn as they've been rumored to be, then I believe there will be the chance for some excitement. And there's no need to worry, I'll not be handling all the negotiations, I have another in mind who is good at getting results."
The man across the table that had warned Azrael before, pinned the blonde-haired man with his gaze. "Be forewarned Azrael, should your actions or whomever you are referring to cause the Federation's military to attack the Alliance, it will be on your head. Should the relationship between the Human Federation and the Alliance degrade further and demands be made for the one responsible, you will be who is given for that. Your head is the one that will roll should things go wrong and none of us here will help you in any way. Do you understand Muruta Azrael?" the man said seriously.
Muruta Azrael wasn't all that worried, but he was kind of surprised at this statement. It said that mistakes made would be on him and no one else, a rather bad risk Azrael had learned in the business world to have placed on you. "Of course I understand, I assure you, the negotiations will go fine. All you here should be worrying about is the operation to retake Victoria."
-Line Break-
Central Government Administration Building, The Republic
It was early morning, and the executive cabinet, the head of the Republic's government were gathering for an emergency meeting as a message from the Earth Alliance had come. It wasn't unusual for messages to come, but this one held a different feel to it than the others before.
As Ellen Blass entered the conference room, it was clear that the contents of the what the Earth Alliance had sent was troubling to all. Ellen was quickly approached by her secretaries of State and Defense, and they began telling her of how the contents of the message had already been made public. Spreading panic was the result of the publicizing of the contents of the Alliance's message and there were efforts being made to calm the masses. How the contents of the message had gotten out was unknown, there were several different possibilities of how it could've happened. Yet, that issue would have to be seen to at a later time as there was more pressing matters to attending to.
Ellen called all the members of her executive cabinet to order and to be seated, before she took her own chair at the head of the table. "Now that we are all here and settled, we can get to the 'message' that the Atlantic Federation has sent us on behalf of the Earth Alliance," she said.
There was muttering of agreement, before Mark Lund, the Republic's Secretary of State, stood up, a page in hand and began reading. "The message from the Atlantic Federation is as follows:
To the Republic of East Asia,
As a nation of Earth which claims to ally itself with the group called the Human Federation, who has shown itself to not have the interests of the human species at heart as shown by their actions. The Human Federation's actions are unacceptable and so, the group is denounced as an official group by the Earth Alliance as a whole.
In regard to the Republic, your nation is not taking into consideration the current state of current world affairs. The lack of attention of recent events and the lack of action is unacceptable and can no longer be ignored or permitted. As a fellow nation of Earth, there is an inherent responsibility assist in the protection of the world from those who would attack it and not seek to only preserve its own domestic peace. With the previous requests of cooperation with the Republic being refused and ignored in the effort to make the whole world safe from mankind's enemy and not just part of it from those who would threaten it, measures must be taken.
On behalf of all the member states of the Earth Alliance, we demand the following concessions from the Republic of East Asia:
The immediate resignation of the current governing body of the Republic, relinquishing all its political and executive authority.
The total disarmament and dissolution of all its military forces.
Should both of these demands not be met in forty-eight hours, then the Earth Alliance has no choice, but to conclude the Republic an enemy to the Earth Alliance and a supporter of ZAFT. Should that be the case, it leaves the Alliance no other option than to confront the Republic with force in order to preserve the safety of Earth.
That is all in the message," Lund finished, then he sat down.
"This is preposterous, do they really think such threats would sway the Republic?!" Cried a cabinet member.
"Are we even sure that this message is even from the Alliance and not just the Atlantic Federation using political pressure like they do? They threaten others in their methods of bullying often enough for this not to be new," said another.
Angry mutterings and arguments began between some of the cabinet members. Ellen looked to Lund and nodded to her right-hand man, and Lund stood again, "ENOUGH, THIS CABINET WILL HAVE ORDER!" He shouted.
All in the room went quiet and looked to the head of the table, where Ellen Blass got to her feet, "Whether or not this message is from the Earth Alliance or just the Atlantic Federation, does not matter under the standing circumstances. The message that is being sent is clear, a number within the Alliance are no longer going to accept the stance of neutrality that we and the other member nations have upheld to the present."
Nicole Grace, the Secretary of Defense then spoke up, "Indeed Prime Minister, with the Alliance losin Panama, them varmints 'll be desperate to get their hands on a mass driver to reestablish their supply line to space and their Lunar base." She said in her rural drawl, "ZAFT's strike on Panama was a wise decision on their part, but that then puts the pressure on us to deal with those no-good varmints in the Alliance and Earth Forces. Then they go and blatantly insult our citizens that are Coordinators with sayin 'mankind's enemy' like them in Blue Cosmos."
"Whether ZAFT meant for this to occur or not, is irrelevant. The facts are that an Alliance force will be coming to the Republic and it will not be coming upon friendly terms," Ellen lifted the page that had the message. "These demands they are making to us, are unacceptable, if the Alliance believes that such a threat as this is all it takes to intimidate us, then they will learn how wrong they are. We will not cave in to their demands, we will not throw away our standards just because a number of the leaders of the Earth Alliance say that we are wrong, and they are right!" Gestures of agreement and support to the counters to the Alliance's threat came from those around the conference table as Ellen continued. "Most of all, we will not cower before the Earth Alliance, we will stand up and show that the Alliance isn't superior or right in forcing their views on others."
There were shouts of agreement to Ellen's answer to the Earth Alliance's threat/ultimatum. Order was restored quickly by Secretary Lund and the vote for the response began, "All those in favor of rejecting the demands from the Earth Alliance," stated Lund.
All present raised their hands, and when asked if any were opposed, none spoke up. Ellen nodded at the results, "Very well then, let us then discuss what will need to be done going forward, in order protect the welfare of our citizens."
The discussion turned to the need of evacuation of the citizen that were in Shira and other cities in the Republic that were close to the ocean. There were large bunkers underground further inland within the Republic and they would be put into use for this. It was clear as the discussion went on, that dark and hard times were coming because of the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT for those who didn't wish for any involvement.
-Line Break-
-Tyler's pov-
The Republic
The transport aircraft came to land at Shira's airfield later that night, though it wasn't exactly comforting to return home like it normally was. No, the tense air was felt the second that Lisa and I stepped off the plane. And let me tell you, I haven't fell this tense of an air since the nuclear strike made on Junius Seven! Normally, there was an uplifting feel when I came around the Republic, or at least I'm able to relax a bit. But, there was definitely an air of impending trouble and horrible things.
Lisa and I were approached just after we exited the aircraft and then were escorted to the Republic's military command center. The ride there was quiet, the city was empty and silent. When we got to military command, the complex was abuzz with activity, could see people rushing around from place to place with either worry or bordering panic clear. Lisa and I were brought to General Maxwell, who was in the main tactical control room. We saluted him, which he returned, "Commander McGregor, Lieutenant Malto, heard that you would be showing up, good to have you here. No doubt that you have gotten the impression of what's going on," he greeted.
I nodded, "Indeed sir, dare I ask what the Alliance has gone and done to have everyone on edge like this?" I questioned.
General Maxwell picked up a page and handed it to me, "See for yourself."
I took the page and scanned the contents and what I saw infuriated me greatly! Once I was finished, I handed the page to Lisa, yet my hand was shaking with the fury that was coursing through me. The message that my mother had received a few weeks ago had carried the impression of a request. In this, there was none of that, this was a demand/threat to the Republic directly. I faced General Maxwell, "How long ago did that 'message' get sent to us?" I queried.
Maxwell frowned, "Almost thirty-six hours ago."
That didn't leave much time, only twelve-hours before the Earth Forces would come here and do whatever the hell they pleased. It's no secret that there are those in the Alliance who didn't like the Federation's stance of neutrality, dearly wanted to bring around a reign of terror on the Federation citizens and abuse the power the Federation had. General Maxwell continued, "However, evacuations of the citizens further inland have already started and are progressing well right now. They should be finished by the time that the deadline comes."
That sounds right, my mother would move the citizens more inland for their safety. She has always put the good of the citizens first… it's one of the reasons she keeps getting reelected as Prime Minister of the Republic. The people know what they're getting with my mom and they appreciate how she runs the government as she's been doing it for sixteen years as of this year and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future.
My mother, being the kind of woman she was, wouldn't give into the demands from the Earth Alliance, she has a reputation for being stubborn. The weird thing is, those in the Alliance leadership know she won't agree to such ridiculous things. She's made the standing of the Republic clear, that like the rest of the Human Federation, we will not throw away our beliefs or views to get the Earth Alliance off our backs! No matter the methods that are used to attempt to intimidate us, we will not give in and let those in the Earth Alliance or the Earth Force have their ways with us. It's why she's called the "Dragon of the Republic" by those in the PLANT's leadership as well as the Alliance's. So, for any of the leadership of the Alliance to send the 'ultimatum', is more to send a message, rather than give the opportunity to opt out.
I focused back on General Maxwell, "What can we do to help sir?" I requested.
"Your orders are to go over to Teswa R&D, both of you have been selected as licensed pilots to use recently developed mobile suits. Make your preparation and head to the complex. There are only twelve hours remaining until the Earth Alliance come into range, time is of the essence, so do not waste it on frivolous things," was Maxwell's reply.
Both Lisa and I acknowledged the orders we are being given, before we left military command. We managed to get a meal and catch a bit of sleep, along our way toward Teswa R&D. I also had the time to review what the Republic had going for itself. The Earth Forces would likely strike Shira first, before trying to go inland from there. With Shira located where it was, it was the best place to make land fall. A good portion of the shoreline of the Republic, is made up of cliffs, dense jungle and other terrain that make coming up to shore very difficult. It's become like that beginning not too long after the reconstruction war's end. The two major goals that the Alliance has of course, are the Republic mass driver "Shen Lóng" and the Teswa R&D complex once they find it. There's little that would stop them going for those two goals, unless they're beaten back!
I wouldn't doubt that the coming Alliance forces will be expecting some defense to slow them down. What they don't know is that there are more than just some defensive measures. Along the shores of Shira alone, there was a decent number of 'guns', hidden underground that can be raised up to be used. There are three "Grandous" 300cm high-energy beam double barrel cannons, which can rotate within a 180-degree range. Then there are six "Blarin" duel barrel turrets that are a margin less powerful than the Grandous, but still pack a punch. Last but not least in the shoreline defense, M15 "Lapua" 60cm triple cannon and there are quite a few of them, in between the larger guns.
The other part of the defense systems that the Republic, is made up of a deflection field system, invented and developed by Teswa R&D. It's my understanding the system is based upon the Lightwave Barrier like what Artemis had, though it's been overhauled and made more practical. There's a couple of networks of emitters around some places, like the mass driver, Teswa and some of the large bunkers that will be protecting the Republic's citizens.
All of those are the fixed defenses that the Republic has in place, there's still the defending forces to take into account, which I doubt the Earth Forces are thinking about much. With their capabilities to mass produce mobile suits obtained recently, the Earth Alliance think they're invincible with them and can do anything they please. The great number of fighter pilots, are ready to defend the nation and can use mobile suits which all the Delta fighters can become or die trying if that's needed. So, the Earth Forces that were coming here, will be in for a shocking surprise that has been prepared for years.
Nonetheless, for the Earth Alliance to attack a member nation of the Federation… this is a gutsy decision to make and one not to be decided lightly. Such an action violates three standing treaties, which had kept the Federation military from taking out Alliance forces and bases for just making threats. The Earth Alliance had been trying to avoid taking on ZAFT and the Human Federation at the same time, yet this action coming could end out bringing war to them from the Federation. So, the question is why do something that could so clearly screw you over royally? I personally think that some in the leadership of the Earth Alliance have marbles missing from their heads, but this even doesn't make much sense. Anyways, the Federation military has been preparing for this event for years, and all the preparation will pay off in spades!
Two hours passed by, when Lisa and I arrived at the Teswa R&D complex, and the tension that was building with the coming clash with the Alliance. The whole complex, like military command was abuzz of activity, with people running to and fro, showing signs of stress. Lisa and I were soon escorted to the development floor for mobile suits where Carlos was. My friend was delegating tasks to other workers, and upon glancing around, saw multiple mobile suits being I assumed, adjusted for use. I even spotted the machine I was praying to get to use, the HFS-Z201 Aurora and I hope that's the one I get to work with, if given the choice, I'll choose it!
Once Carlos finished handing out the assignments, he came over to Lisa and me. "Tyler, Lieutenant Malto, hadn't expected to see you here yet, but since you're here, perhaps there's cause for a bit more optimism," he greeted.
I nodded, "Hope so Carlos, now, we have been told that there are some newly developed mobile suits here that need some pilots. Lisa and I are here to fill at least two of those spots, so what have you got for us?" I asked.
Carlos smiled at me, "Well, for you Tyler, you'll get your wish, since you'll be piloting the HFS-Z201 Aurora. As for you companion there are a few options," my friend said.
I just about jumped up into the air at hearing that I would get to pilot the Aurora as I'd hoped, and I would have if not for the seriousness of the situation and my health is still marginal to a degree. However, I didn't get the chance as Carlos led us over to one of the suit docks, in the particular dock was a machine I've never seen.
The suit was close to the same height as the Aurora, though I would say just a tiny margin shorter. Mostly since the head antenna was more like the Freedom's, where the Aurora is closer to what ZAFT's X09A Justice's antenna. I couldn't begin to guess how much the machine weighs, but doubt it's light by any means, most mobile suits weigh seventy tons at a bare minimum, usually more. The machine was grey, much like the Alliance prototypes and the Shadow are when their phase shift armor is down. The pieces of note would include, the backpack system and then a part in front of the shoulders.
The parts in front of the shoulders, looked to be some kind of targeting scopes, housed in what appeared to be moveable sections in front of the shoulders. With what I could see of the backpack system, there was a wing apparatus on either side of the backpack with hinges connected two-thirds of the way up the wings. There also were two boosters built into the wings. Two cannons, which were made up of duel barrels by what I could see and they were positioned above and behind the head of the suit and were connected to the backpack.
It was at that point, Carlos began giving the rundown of the specs of this machine, "This is the HFS-Z151 Athena, developed for precision striking of an opposing force, but can also hold its own against multiple enemies. It comes with a standard cockpit, located in the torso with a good restraint system to keep the pilot safe from the G-forces that this machine can handle, including atmospheric ascent and descent. The power plant, is a new compact battery, that's actually made of two synced battery units that have an experimental recharge function, but it's still slow on that, yet it's still being fine-tuned."
Carlos paused and took a breath, "One of the newer features, comes in the form of the armor system which is based on the phase shift armor system that the Earth Alliance prototypes had. We call it Phase Shift type Sigma or PS-S, and where it uses voltage for the defense, type Sigma is different. This version distributes power to where it is needed most, rather than just sending the same amount of power everywhere, while maintaining a minimum level overall. Thus, the drain on power that phase shift makes can be cut down by a good margin and doesn't waste needlessly. It's the same armor system that the Aurora has to work with."
Well, I'm fairly impressed so far with this machine, those here at Teswa R&D had been busy and their work would be helpful! Carlos kept going, "Then, also like the Aurora, Athena also has a HiMAM system for aerial combat. It also has the Phantom Stealth System like the Aurora does yet, the feature that trumps the Aurora, comes in when this machine works with a group, which comes in the form of the Grapple Carrying system. The system allows for the Athena, in flight mode to carry and deliver a mobile suit or various payloads to the battlefield, even while flying by."
That last piece of equipment, the carrying system… that had potential! Being able to deliver different payloads, including mobile suits, that could change the flow of a battle. "For armaments, there are a pair of CIWS guns in both sides the head, codenamed 'StingRay'. There's one beam saber stored on the back of the hips. Then we have the M2M3 75mm machine guns, one mounted on the undersides of the forearms," said Carlos, still having both Lisa and I in silent awe of the machine he was telling us about. "You've got a pair of M2 vulcan guns mounted on the long nose section that's on the backpack, though they're only useable in flight mode. Then on the wing booster sections, there are two missile swarm pods, named 'Locus'. They're loaded with eight missiles each pod, so more bang for your buck as the saying goes. The last of the fixed armaments, would be the two 'Gauss' 90mm twin railguns and they pack serious punch with the impact they have."
This suit has quite the arsenal to work with! Still, I'm glad that I'm getting to pilot the Aurora, but this machine is nice too. And Carlos had inferred that this mobile suit had other armaments that weren't fixed that he hasn't told us about. "For optional armaments that are carried, there are two of them. The first, would be the MA-M25 'Halzer' beam lance, it's holstered along the back to the left of the center of the suit. The lance collapses down into half its length when it's not in use. Then the second, is two "Spatter-fire" 85mm rapid-fire railgun rifles. They are usable in both flight mode and mobile suit mode, in flight mode the are held by the hands and turned sideways," finished Carlos.
Then my friend turned to Lisa, "You can be the pilot for this suit Miss, or I can show you the others that we have," he posed.
Lisa was about to give her answer to the offer of using the Athena mobile suit, when another voice was heard, "I must say, quite a well-made machine, and I've seen some good ones before," a tenor male voice said.
All of us turned to see a man coming up to where we were, for me I was more surprised at who it was as I knew the guy. He had blonde short to medium length hair and green eyes, standing at almost six feet. Was the kind of man that had good charisma and came off as an easy-going guy, yet that's not entirely true. Carlos and Lisa had confused expressions on their faces, but this guy isn't what you would expect from what he's done. I just shook my head, "You know Graham, it's normally considered good manners to introduce yourself to people you haven't met before. Not everyone knows who you are by just looking at you… hard as that may be to believe for you."
'Graham' gave me a look of mock shock, "Not heard of me? Tyler, you do come up with some good jokes from time to time. Why some say you have little sense of humor, I'll never know," Graham said, but then he paused, viewing the confusion that remained on Lisa's and Carlos's faces. He then bowed to them both, "My apologies for my lack of manners, I'm named Graham Aker."
I sighed, "This guy here, is a former ZAFT pilot, but he isn't your run of the mill pilot, he is one of the best ones," I added.
Graham chuckled, "Now Tyler stop, you're embarrassing me, yes, it's true that I'm no regular pilot, but I just took the time to polish my skills."
I rolled my eyes at Graham, before I looked back at Carlos and Lisa, "You wouldn't think it of this guy, I'm well-aware, but he is the pilot known as 'the Comet'," I continued.
Lisa's eyes widened at my statement, "You're saying that this man," she questioned, pointing at Graham, "Is ZAFT's champion of champions, their ace of aces?"
Graham smiled, "Indeed I am dear lady, though I prefer the title of 'the defender of the people' personally, now that's something I aspire to live up to."
I exhaled before I spoke again, "Graham, what are you doing here? If you haven't noticed, there's a lot going on."
Graham faced me and gaining a serious look that I wouldn't expect from him, "I'm through sitting on the sidelines, it's time for the defender of the people, Graham Aker, to take up the task of fighting for those who can't, to protect those who can't do so themselves. Whether it is on the side of ZAFT, the Alliance or the Federation, doesn't matter to me. I'll stand and fight for those who wish to live in peace and do not want this war and I will fight those who are intent on continuing these pointless battles!"
"Well, we could use a pilot with such skills," remarked Carlos.
My friend led us to another dock and a second mobile suit, which I didn't recognize. The suit was grey like the last one was, and I suspected that it would change color upon the phase shift activating. Looked to be about the same height as the Athena, but also appeared to be able to shift into a different mode by some of the parts that I saw. Like the Athena, this machine had a 'backpack' system equipped. There was a pair of wings on either side on the outside of the backpack. The upper wing was half the size of the one below it and the lower wing had a length from the elbow of the suit's arm down to just about the knee.
For weapon, that I could see four barrels, two over the shoulders and one down the center line of the back of the suit, perhaps part of the nose section of its alternative mode. The last weapon was a long rifle that was held in the machine's right hand.
"This is the HFS-Z127 Thanatos, an assault type mobile suit. Like the Athena, it's equipped with a compact duel synced battery with the recharging function. It also has PS-S armor as part of the suit's defense. Thanatos has a HiMAMs and grapple carrying system built in as well as a Phantom stealth system," iterated Carlos.
"In the area of armaments, Thanatos has a fair arsenal. First, the pair of 115mm 'Howles' railguns which sit over the shoulders and are part of the backpack. Along the center of the backpack, is the "Shano" plasma cannon, which has the highest firepower other than the optional rifle. You'll find two beam sabers, stored in compartments along the outside of the forearms, they'll shoot out to the hands from there. There are CIWS guns in the head on either side just below the optical sensor cameras, which are M85 40mm and are loaded with anti-phase shift rounds." Carlos said, pausing to take a breath, "There also are MMS-GUA 'Spitfire' 65mm vulcan guns, only usable in flight mode and are mounted in the nose section. And finally, on the outside of the shoulders, the Wing Shields, can add to the effectiveness of the HiMAMs and are coated with anti-beam coating. There is only one handheld armament, which is the SR23 'Barret' 250mm long-ranged beam rifle. The weapon can also be used as a sniper rifle or a short to medium-range rifle as well."
After Carlos got done giving the rundown on the Thanatos suit, Graham said it would work for him, but honestly, doubt it would have mattered what kind of mobile suit he used. With the skills which he has, the coming Earth Forces are going to have losses a good deal worse than if Graham wasn't going out to the battlefield.
Carlos did mention that for the other four 'licensed' pilots that were either here or on their way, there were two mobile suits that were specialized for ground combat. And the other two suits that were waiting for pilots, were meant for underwater battle.
As it was explained, the two land mobile suits, rather than having a flight mode, had a mode that made them look and handle similar to ZAFT's BuCUE model machine. One of the suits had ranged weapons and even had a system that mimicked a good sniping scope. Whereas the other was for artillery and could get through armor better than others. They both had PS-S and the Phantom Stealth system and the duel synced batteries.
Then with the water/underwater mobile suits, like the ground suits, had a different mode that wasn't a flight mode, but as they're for underwater combat, their alternative mode is a submersible. As that's the case, there is little in the department of beam weapons, but rather railguns and other projectiles that are effective underwater. One of the machines apparently has an experimental thermal beam weapon to work with, maybe beams that can be use underwater aren't that far away. Like the other suits here, they had the PS-S armor, but they had a system that had the ability to scramble an enemy's sonar and make them blind in that. Carlos called it "Ghost" I believe.
I just hope that these machines will help enough to get the Alliance forces to go away before the damage to the Republic piles and/or people get hurt.
-Line Break-
-Neutral pov-
Spengler-class Lawdon, Pacific Ocean
Upon the Flag ship that the head of the Earth Forces 1st seaborne fleet traveling towards the Republic, the mood was somber yet tense. On the bridge, the captain of the vessel was looking over the latest information that had been acquired on the Republic ad what was happening there. But in reality, the man was avoiding giving attention to the woman that was sitting on the bridge staring out the forward windows.
The woman in the chair next to the captain's own, was close to five feet and three-quarters of a foot in height. She had neutral brown hair, unbound and straight, that went down to her waist. Her eyes were blue and fit her smooth pretty face that was framed by her hair. The woman was fit, no fat could be seen and her figure and was one that many women would love to have. She was wearing a black tank-top with a white lab coat over it, along with black dress pants. Her name was Mina Moss, a Natural-type human and a brilliant scientist that wouldn't normally be found on a military ship.
If one just went by her appearance, she was in her prime and would be popular with most of the men on the ship. However, due to Dr. Moss's reputation, none dared approached her as the stories about her scared almost all the Earth Forces personnel on the ship and it was more she terrified them spitless! She wasn't only a member of the Atlantic Federation who was known by name like Muruta Azrael. The stories about Mina Moss, painted her as a devil and crazy woman that might torture those who ticked her off in the most horrible ways! The few officers that had spoken with her, found her to be cold and unsympathetic and gave off an extremely unfriendly air.
The reason this woman was here at all, was that Director Muruta Azrael had sent her and the others that came with her and apparently, they were her responsibility. Those others were three girls that were that ranged to being in their late teens to early twenties. There had already been one incident while Dr. Moss had been on the ship, it had started when one of the doctors had tried to do something to one of the girls. Said doctor had gotten a scalpel in the shoulder and they had said that Dr. Moss had done it. The woman had not denied that, only said that the doctor had been interfering with things that were none of their concern and said she would aim for a more painful place should it happen again.
At the moment, Dr. Moss was simply staring out the window, but in actuality, she was internally fuming at how the current situation was going. She'd been planning to do work in the lab she was the head for and led, known as Lodonia like she normally did. It was her preference, she did the job of management and research at the lab, while one of the few who could be around her and not sweat or cower in fear would work with clients. But, Muruta Azrael, one of the lab's big funding clients, had come by with a 'job' he needed her specifically for. Her issue wasn't with the current director of Blue Cosmos exactly, the organization was one of the funders of the lab after all. No what was bugging Mina Moss, was that the enhanced human project she had been putting her life into over a decade now, was likely being overseen by some of the fools back at the lab that were incompetent!
The three girls here on the ship with her, were some of her best candidates in the enhanced human project. They were definitely the best performers thus far and were very obedient to Mina, who they saw as their mother. The problem, was that the other group made up of three candidates of the project, who were decent scoring subjects, had been taken out and were now with Azrael. Those the three biological CPUs as some nicknamed them, were males and were under the supervision of one of Mina's subordinates. The said subordinate, was one that Mina didn't have confidence in, had a history of doing things sloppily or 'his way' which was unacceptable to her. Now those three and their "handler" were on their way to the Orb Union and it didn't sit well with her. And an unhappy and ticked off Mina wasn't one that was in any way pleasant to be around at all!
The silence on the bridge was adding to Mina's frustrations, so she rose and made her way further into the ship, to go see her girls. The three girls had come into her possession eight years ago while Mina had been out viewing some testing of work she'd contributed to. They had been abandoned in a small town near the test site, huddling together. The girls had seemed lost and they had clung to her when she came across them, which had served her well in her work and really, help save a part of the enhanced human project back at that time and several times since. She wasn't mean to the girls, no the three had shown potential beyond any of the other children that had come to the lab.
Once arriving in the room Mina was going to, she saw the three she had brought with her. They were spread out in the sitting room, one on the single couch in the room, another in an armchair and the last on the floor in front of the couch.
The young woman on the couch, laying across the whole length of the piece of furniture, with her length or height of five and a half feet. She was the oldest of the three girls, being twenty years old or that was the guess. She had face length orange hair that was wavy and complimented her deep blue eyes. Her name was Deborah Galiena and she had an overall figure that was average, not too thin or too wide. While she was wearing a black t-shirt and shirt with tight black long pants under the skirt. She had a red jacket over the black t-shirt. And currently, Deborah was reading a book, wasn't completely engrossed, it was still clear that she was listening to the activities of the other two girls. Deborah was the calm and collected one of the trio and was the 'big sister' figure for the bunch, being the oldest. She even was protective of the other two under almost all circumstances. Even at the times that Deborah snapped and lost it, she still protected her sisters, it just became far more violent, usually ending with those threating her and her sisters being killed!
The girl that was on the floor in front of the couch, was the youngest of the group, who had just turned eighteen a few weeks ago, her name was Lafter Galiena. She was a small margin shorter than Deborah and was a tad thin, but not unhealthily so. Lafter had light brown hair that was tied into two twin tails that framed her oval face and complemented her green eyes. She was wearing a tight pink tank-top with a white leather short jacket, denim shorts, along with white knee-socks and cowgirl boots. Lafter was happily munching on sweets while lying on her stomach, waving her boots in the air. She was looking at a book which Mina couldn't tell much about from where she stood at the doorway. Lafter was the cheerful one of the three, though she could be childish at times. A determined girl that didn't accept losing easily at all, so a good girl.
The last girl in the armchair, was over five and a half feet, but was shorter than Deborah. She had neck length hair that was black and straight. With her neutral blue eyes, which was a common trait among the girls showing their relations to each other, accenting her oval face. Her name was Rossweisse Galiena and she was the middle girl at the age of nineteen. Rossweisse was in a long-sleeve purple button-up shirt with tan dress pants. She was playing a handheld game and looked to be concentrating heavily on that. Although, she had a temper and difficulty controlling it at times, in a place like this room she was doing well at controlling it.
Mina cleared her throat to gain the attention of the three, who looked up at her, "Good afternoon my dears," Mina greeted.
Lafter reacted first, "Mama!" she cried as she leapt up and rushed over to Mina and hugged her.
Deborah sat up on the couch, "How nice for you to visit Mother. You appeared to be in a bad mood when we got to this ship," she said in a caring tone.
Mina waved a hand, "Oh, I'm still displeased by how things have ended out, having to leave three other candidates in the hands of a witless buffoon never has sat well with me. Admittedly, those three boys aren't as wonderful as you three are, yet I wouldn't leave any of you with anyone else. Nevertheless, there's been an amount of work put into them and it would be very irritating if that work was wasted," Mina replied.
Mina turned to her 'middle daughter', "Rossweisse dear, would you please come over here," said Mina, then faced Deborah, "You as well Deborah."
And three girls gathered around Mina, "Now listen up all of you, I have a job coming up that you three are very well suited to accomplish, I'm confident that all of you are up to doing the task. The job is to give the three mobile suits on this ship a full field test, for there's the need for viable data with them to do adjustments."
The three girls nodded, "We'll do our best mother/mama/mom" they answered together.
-Line Break-
The Republic
The evacuation of the citizens was moving along efficiently, as the time set by the ultimatum from the Earth Alliance drew closer. All government employees and officials were doing their best to keep the public from panicking and get them to safety as quickly as was possible. At the same time, the Federation military forces were tightening down the defenses the Republic had and readying themselves for the battle that would come their way. It was clear by the actions and lack of answering any communications, the Earth Forces were coming to attack the Republic and won't accept surrender any more.
On the evening before the day that the Alliance's demands were supposed to be met, Ellen Blass gave the Earth Alliance's leadership the Republic's reply to their ultimatum. She said in clear and in no uncertain terms, that the Republic of East Asia would not agree to any of the demands stated. Nor would the Republic be swayed by such obvious threats made by those who would descend to the level of bullying thugs. However, Ellen said the message in a more dignified way than the Alliance had sent their own message. In which delivered how appalling as well as childish the Alliance was being by excusing themselves in saying the Human Federation wasn't being recognized by the Earth Alliance at all.
The Alliance made no response to the reply, at least no apparent one other than an Earth Forces fleet heading for the member nations of the Federation. This would be the first major offensive that had been made since the few skirmishes before the current war had started. Thus far, the Federation military and those they protected hadn't been put into a position that they would have to defend themselves or show much more force then they had already. The world, moon and colonies knowing this fact, were watching these events with baited breath, to see what the Federation would do.
With the time of the Alliance's demands were set to be met drew nearer and nearer, the tension being felt skyrocketed higher and higher. The evacuations were finished by sunrise and the last of those to leave the areas that combat would likely taking place, were the governing officials and they were on their way out as well. When the Earth Alliance fleet came into detection range of the Republic's sensors, the shoreline defensive guns were raised into position for deployment. The three large "Grandous" beam cannons shifted to train their barrels on the approaching ships making their way towards the Republic. The other defensive weapons were doing the same thing along the shore. While further inland, anti-air missile launchers, beam interceptors and gatling guns were brought up to the surface so they could prevent any missiles or other projectiles from hitting inland.
A final warning, stating the Republic's standing and the consequences of the possible coming actions would bring the Alliance, was transmitted to the flagship of the Earth Alliance's fleet, the Lawdon. Were the Alliance to attack the Republic, fully knowing that it was a part of the Federation, that could be seen as a declaration of war against the Federation itself. Yet, as the Alliance fleet didn't change its course, which said that the Earth Forces were ignoring the warning.
Sirens rang out over the empty city of Shira and the surrounding areas, signaling the impending conflict. The large bunkers were locked down and all defenders prepared for what was about to happen. The fighter launching catapults were made ready to use for all the hangers that were built inside the mountains that were on the western outskirts of Shira. In the command center, all the control operators were in their seats and were focused on their tasks. The taps on the Alliance's communication channels were being solidified and fed into the tactical information feeds. This would allow defending Federation forces to know what the Earth Forces movements would be as their orders were given. The taps were put in place in such a way that unless someone knew what to look for, none would see the taps for what they really were.
General Maxwell was at the holographic display of the battlefield with his tactical commanding officers, who were also looking over the information the display was providing. The final defense the Republic had at its disposal, deflection fields were activated. Barriers came into place, enclosing Shen Lóng, the Teswa complex, military command center and all of the bunkers. Those fields would block incoming beams from the Alliance force if things got that far.
Once the Alliance vessels crossed into the Republic's outer defensive perimeter, Maxwell gave his final order before the battle for the Republic would begin. "To all pilots, in this battle, use of mobile suit mode of your machines will be authorized. It is likely that the Earth Forces will be deploying their mobile suits in this. Do your utmost to prevent Alliance forces from making landfall or getting inland. The defense and the future of the Republic is in our hands and many are putting their faith in us and depending us. Fight for the future and good of humanity, good luck to us all."
Maxwell focused on the ships appearing on the holographic, "Aim 'Grandous' turrets at the lead ships and commence interception procedures."
The commands were inputted, and the high-energy beam cannons moved a bit to home in their targets they were aiming at and then, began shooting at the oncoming ships. The other shoreline guns followed suit and began throwing out a barrage at the Alliance vessels. The response of Alliance ships, were to use their multi-barreled CIWS guns to intercept what they could of what was coming at them.
Maxwell observed the opposing ships slow a margin and that was progress, the man knew the momentum needed to be kept up. Images that represented the first wave of defending vessels which was made up of twelve Federation sea vessels leaving their docks and sailed out towards the Alliance ships, appeared on the holographic display. All the ships were keeping out of the way of the shoreline defenses as they went. "Order Yue Fei squadron and Chao squadron to launch out. Yue Fei is to head towards the ships, while Chao is to take down the flying carriers that are coming to deliver mobile suits," he ordered.
An average squadron, was made up of twenty-five fighters, which both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance knew. What they weren't sure of, was how many squadrons that any of the member nations of the Federation had for their defense. The number wasn't small, not with the expectation of the Earth Alliance to attack member nations looming for the last year. Shortly after the orders were given, the sight of Delta Fighters zooming past the few front viewing windows of the command center, boosting morale a small bit. Half of those fighters climbed upward, the other half kept at a small distance from the ground, high enough to not being in the line of fire of the defensive guns.
The squad of fighters that had climbed up higher, quickly spotted the Alliance aerial transports that were carrying their new mass production mobile suits, flying towards the Republic. The fighters began attacking the carriers, shooting them down before they could get over the Republic. However, once the Alliance personnel realized that the carriers were being destroyed before they could get over their assigned drop point, they changed tactics. Mobile suits began leaping out of the carriers, before deploying parachutes that were connected to their backs.
The Earth Alliance mass production mobile suits, were built based on the X105 Strike and so, looked quite a bit like it. However, there were some differences between the mass production model and the Strike. It looked more simplistic, the coloration was off-white to grey instead of the brilliant white the Strike had. In fact, all the colors were darker than the Strike's and they were lighter and had better mobility than the Strike was capable of. For armaments, CIWS guns were visible on the sides of the head, a pair of beam sabers sat at their hips. There were smaller guns on both front sections of the feet for taking out infantry while on the ground. Some of the suits had machine guns in hand, while others had beam rifles. Most if not all the mobile suits had a shield mounted on one of the arms of the Alliance units.
As the Alliance mobile suits were descending, they fired back at the Federation fighters, some of the shots finding their marks and hitting some of the fighters. None of the Federation machines were destroyed by enemy fire at this point, but flying became harder if not impossible. Nonetheless, it was at this point that a fact that both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance had never been able to confirm if it was true, was revealed. The Federation fighters that were having issues with flying, transformed into mobile suits and started dancing with the Alliance suits. The Earth Forces mobile suits, being dependent on their parachutes, were much harder pressed to defend themselves against the Federation machines, which had flight systems built into them. But, it quickly became clear, that the Federation's mobile suits' flight systems had a sizable advantage over the Alliance machines' parachutes.
-Line Break-
-Tyler's pov-
Teswa R&D complex
The final adjustments were being finished on the mobile suits. Those of us who would be piloting them had been occupying our time with whatever we could to keep from being idol. I ate a meal and caught some sleep or tried to, between that, I helped around the complex. But, the tension was building here like it had everywhere else and that was causing stress to all. It was when alarms started sounding, when I raced to the development floor and saw that the work was quickly being finished. When I asked, I was told that the alarms were sounding to say that fighting had broken out against the Alliance. The feeling of my guts being twisted in an unnatural way increased at hearing that. Let's just say, the short period of time that passed for the mobile suits to be made ready felt a lot longer than it really was.
The seven pilots chosen to pilot the machines here, including myself, boarded the machines we'd been assigned. The stress of the hours that had gone by since Lisa and I had arrived back in the Republic, had been starting to take a toll on me. However, now that the wait was over, the pressure that was brought on by the mounting stress was fading. I was about to join the fight that the Alliance had started. The feelings turned into the type I was familiar with and knew how to deal with, the weight that comes on you when you are on a battlefield is to me, easier to work against, rather than waiting with dread of an event to come. And honestly, it's high time the Earth Forces get taught the lesson that you can't just do what you want and expect everyone to agree to with your selfishness.
The alarm signaling the massive upper door opening, began blaring, then I felt my mobile suit moving backward towards the middle of Teswa, for easy access to the way out. The Aurora was turned around so that it faced outward, for a better launch. Once over the deep canyon like space that was in the center of the Teswa complex, airtight shutters closed behind all the mobile suits. I looked up to see daylight of the morning, before focusing on the battle that I and the other pilots here would soon enter. The Aurora's thrusters warmed up and when they were ready, I wasted no more time, "Tyler McGregor, Aurora, let's do this!" I announced.
There came cheering from those who work here at Teswa, as I piloted the Aurora to leap off the platform it was on. And then, I shot upward through the hole that Teswa's upper shutter normally covers and out into the valley Teswa is built in. I heard Graham being the nice guy, with him letting Lisa launch in the Athena before himself. After Lisa, Graham followed in the Thanatos and one by one, the other four mobile suits followed.
After I gained a respectable height, while keeping in the valley, I changed the Aurora over to its flight mode. The legs locked into being horizontal the upper leg joint below the lower. The front section of the feet folding down for streamlined flight, to have the tail fins set into their forty-five-degree position respectively with the rest of the suit. The Aurora's wings swiveled out and locked into flying position, the thrusters the pivot point of the wing was housed in, became parallel to the center line of the mobile suit. The two plasma cannons shifted forward and set to be next to each other, between the wings and ahead of them. Both cannons had the small fins they were three-fourths of the way along the cannons on the outsides of them, came out to be thirty-five-degree angles to the cannons. The Aurora's beam rifle was still in the right hand, but now was connected to the suit to be in line for flying like the plasma cannons were. Finally, the main flight senor array, which normally sits on the back of the suit between the 'jet sets' came forward and the thin gold fin like spars on the top of the array flicked up.
The transformation had been seamless, I hadn't felt much at all, which was different from a Delta fighter. I glanced behind me, to see the Athena shifting into its flight mode. In the Athena's flight mode, the backpack went flat against the back of the suit. The center length of backpack flipped forward over the head and was the main flight sensor array as well as the nose section of the machine. The shoulder thruster parts moved to be in line with the shoulders and acted as the wings for the Athena. The legs shifted to be much like the Aurora's are in flight mode.
I then caught a quick glimpse of the Thanatos's flight mode, which was similar to the Delta fighter model. The major differences, were that the attached gun was under the nose sections instead of above. Then the heavy cannon that the Thanatos has, stretched over the main sensor array that was the nose. Other than that, the two railguns were on either side by the wing shields.
Lisa and Graham then hovered over the land-based mobile suits, which had changed over to the quadruped mode they had. Both land suits were picked up and carried by the Athena and the Thanatos as we continued forward towards where the battle against the Earth Alliance was being fought. The two aquatic suits were traveling through the underwater tunnel that Teswa had that led to a bay near Shira.
-Line Break-
-Neutral pov-
Spengler-class Lawdon
The assault of the Earth Forces against the Republic and the defending Federation forces had been going for more than fifteen minutes. The Federation forces had managed to prevent any mobile suit landing on the mainland. The fleet commander was both frustrated and somewhat surprised that not only had those defending the Republic prevented the new GAT-01 Strike Daggers from reaching the mainland, but they had somehow known the direction the transport carriers would come to deliver them. And then for this battle, to have to confirm that the Federation military had mobile suits and showed that they were skilled with them they were by attacking the Daggers, didn't help. This skirmish certainly wasn't going as it was supposed at all!
Then, Dr. Moss wasn't just sitting on the bridge, causing a tense air, she was also commenting off and on about how the battle was going badly for the Alliance. "Must say Commander, your surprise at the results of this fight so far, makes you appear rather new to this, though it is a tad amusing," commented Dr. Moss.
"If the Daggers could land on the Republic's mainland, then things would be progressing better. But, the Federation's forces are making that very difficult and that has slowed things down," returned the fleet commander evenly.
Mina scoffed at the reply, "Are you so blinded by your delusions of pride and underestimation that you can't figure it out why that is?" she asked. Then Mina continued, not letting the commander answer the rhetorical question, "The Federation knows that the Alliance is mass producing mobile suits, their appearance at Panama was enough to show that. However, without a flight system equipped, the suits aren't all that effective unless they are on land. Hence, why the defenders aren't letting those mobile suits get that far, it's only logical as well as tactically sound. Then, if you took a moment and looked at the evidence, it's been clear that the Federation had mobile suits. Previous situations and circumstances show that they've a knack for preparation and it's quite impressive."
The fleet commander stayed silent, but inside he was fuming at the woman that was making it sound like the Earth Forces were foolish and didn't know much of anything. Then Mina rose, "But tell you what, I'll assist you in this ridiculous endeavor, and send out my girls with their machines."
She didn't wait for the fleet commanders reply, just left the bridge and headed down to the ship's hold where the mobile suits were. The three mobile suits were three out of the six prototypes that had been made for specifically candidates from Dr. Moss's project. The enhanced human project, where Mina had been 'improving' a number of candidates, with varying success. Her three girls were the best candidates of the project and the laboratory in all honesty, while the three males that were with Director Azrael were okay in Mina's opinion. However, she would have like more time to make sure the mobile suits were tuned and adjusted to work as best as possible with her candidates, but there hadn't been the time. For a scientist, it doesn't do well to refuse a 'request' from one of your major funders, so she had agreed to humor Azrael and show the progress that had been made.
Once Mina had arrived down in the hold, she saw that her girls were suited up and ready to go out in their assigned mobile suits. The three mobile suits, the X130 Raptor, the X251 Sinister and the X333 Bandit, all of the GAT-X suit series were custom high-performance machines, much better than the Strike Daggers. Deborah would pilot the Bandit suit, which had specs specifically for flying and having the advantage in the air. Lafter had been chosen to pilot the Sinister machine as she had shown an affinity with the equipment the machine came with. And that left Rossweisse the Raptor and her middle daughter had been fine with the artillery weaponry.
Deborah noticed Mina coming into the hold, "Mother, what brings you down here?" she asked.
The other two girls turned and faced Mina, who smiled, "Oh, just came to see you three off as well as get away from the lack of common logical sense that is absent up on the bridge of this ship. Now then girls, as I said before, you are to get viable test data for the mobile suits your piloting today. It's prefer that you were to breach the defenses that are protecting the shoreline. The best case, would have you making sure that the mass driver and the scientific complex are in working order should the Alliance overtake the Federation Forces defending. Truthfully, I don't see that being likely, but strange things can happen on rare occasions. So, do you understand the expectations of you today?"
All three girls nodded, "Yes, mother/mama/mom, we'll do our best to make you proud!"
The three girls entered their suits, then the outside doors on the ship opened, with the Raptor an Bandit seeing light to their left and the Sinister saw the same to its right. Mina watched as the three mobile suits launched, and smiled at knowing that her three girls wouldn't come back until they got good results. Mina then made her way back up to the bridge so that she could have a good seat to watch the performance of what she'd put over a decade of work into.
-Line Break-
-Tyler's pov-
The group of custom mobile suits flew down the valley that led from Teswa to the ocean, with me in the lead. Lisa was slightly behind me and on my left, still carrying the land-based suit with the ranged weapon. Graham was about the same distance behind me, but on the right with the other land suit as his payload. I assume that the two aquatic suits were making their way toward the battle underwater and we would meet them on the field. I didn't know the other four pilots much at all, I'd met two of them once, but that was all.
We came around a curve in the valley, and we then got our first in-person the view on the battlefield ahead of us. What I was seeing didn't comfort me really in anyway, I mean the Alliance wasn't doing well in the battle right now, but our side was taking losses as well. I was feeling anger coursing through me, at the Alliance pulling this stunt and justifying this action by reasoning that it was their right in some way. The anger increased more at the thought that those who were ordering this, that probably weren't here in person, didn't care at all the lives that were being lost because of their decision.
I threw the throttle forward and sped ahead, the two aquatic suits followed my lead. I activated the Phantom system, making the Aurora vanish from sight as the seven of us kept flying. I caught the motions of Lisa and Graham veering to the right, likely to drop off the two suits they were carrying. The Aurora's sensors detected the two aquatic suits below coming into open water, zooming along below the surface of the water.
It was just after the custom Federation mobile suits came onto the field, that ahead of me, I saw two objects coming towards the mainland of the Republic. After a moment, I identified the two objects as two separate mobile suits and a mobile armor, none of which I'd seen before. The reason that they had appeared as two objects, was one machine was riding the armor, while the other suit was flying on its own.
The mobile armor, which looked to be an odd aircraft of some type with a mobile suit 'face' on its front and wings attached above the majority of the craft. It was blue overall with black along the center of the wings. There was a set of claws or talons that looked to carry things on the lower side of the mobile armor. There appeared to be a large thruster on top of the armor itself and served as the nose as far as I could tell. I saw a face on the front of the armor below the nose, which makes me wonder. This machine kind of reminds me of the Aegis and that one could change to a mobile armor from a mobile suit. From what I could see, there was a set of machine guns on either side of the 'face' the armor had. Then finally, there was a beam rifle sitting along the nose of the craft. That seemed to be the extent of the weapons this mobile armor was carrying, which was kind of light to send out into this fight, I would think.
Standing on top of the mobile armor, hitching a ride pretty much, was a mobile suit. It was white overall with the joints a slate blue and the mid torso was red. In most places of this mobile suit, it appeared to have two layers of armor, even the head unit had more armor than is normally expected. The suit's frame was most similar to the X103 Buster, but it was more like someone took the framework of the Buster and replaced it with a cross of the Blitz's frame and the Aegis's frame. Had the same frame that the Blitz did with the arms, legs and shoulders, yet the torso and head was like the Aegis. When it came to armaments for the white suit, it looked to have a number of rifles or cannons on its back and a long cannon positioned on the outside of either shoulder. The amount of rifles and/or cannons made me think the mobile suit I was looking at was built for artillery and a bombardment spread. Enemy machine was also holding a long bazooka in its right hand, had to be over 300mm weapon. And it had a long shield mounted on its left arm which was shaped much like the Strike's shield, but had two gun barrels built into it.
The second mobile suit flying besides the armor and the machine that it was carrying was different than its fellows. The frame was clearly based on the X102 Duel, even sharing the color of blue, but it was a lighter shade than the Duel's phase shift armor possessed. From what I saw, there were a couple of clear points of differences between this unit and the Duel. The first was the shield on its left arm, as it was one and a half times the length of the arm including the shoulder. There were two gold 'claws' at the top and bottom of the shield and there was something in the middle of the shield, which I didn't know what it was or its purpose. The second was something built into the torso, which looked like what the Aegis had, a multi-phased cannon. And the third and last point of difference, was a nearly sixteen-meter length anti-ship sword that looked very much like the Strike's "Schwert Gewehr" its optional anti-ship sword, which was stored on the suits back. As for other armaments, there were guns similar to Igelstellungs built into the upper torso. A heavy rifle mounted behind the right shoulder and what looked like missile launchers along the outsides of the forearms.
So, the Alliance are not only wrongfully attacking a nation that they don't control, for apparently that's not malicious enough for them. The Alliance is also using this battle to test new mobile suit models too. I swear, some people's way of thinking isn't just stupid, but downright weird and wrong and is nigh impossible to understand. Stealing a glance below me, I got a view of two dark silhouettes which were the aquatic suits underwater, heading for the Alliance vessels. I silently wished them good luck and focused back on the three approaching enemy machines. I selected to go for the Alliance suit that was not riding the mobile armor, shifting my course to have that machine in front of me.
Just before I reached the Alliance machine, I transformed the Aurora back into its mobile suit mode. I performed a classic move in my playbook that I do love doing, using my suits shield as a ramming tool with the blue unit as the target. My action caused the mobile suit to fly back a bit before stabilizing itself to hover where it had ended out. I disengaged the Aurora's stealth system and activated the phase shift armor, turning the Aurora a neutral red color, with white stripes lining the outside of the wings and the two cannons on the backpack. The wings folded part way so that the wings were at forty-five-degree angles, the back pack was pointing downward so that I'd my suit hover in the air.
I faced the new blue Alliance mobile suit, which was doing the same to me. Next thing I knew, the blue machine rushed forward, drawing its long anti-ship sword, igniting the cutting beam and then my opponent attempted to cleave me in two. I reacted on reflex and evaded to the right, but still saw the beam cutting edge going past where I'd been a moment ago. I dove downward as a second horizontal slice came at me from the sword. As I went downward, I pointed my beam rifle on the enemy suit and fired off a couple of shots to get the other suit to back off.
The desired result came immediately with the blue machine making some distance from me, but then came something I hadn't expected at all. "Wha… you big meanie! You were supposed to stay where you were, so I could cut you in half! But, you're playing unfair and cheat by moving out of the way!" said a young female voice over an open channel.
I felt dumfounded surprise at hearing not only a female voice, but one that also gave the impression of the owner being around my age range. However, I was also pretty damn irked that this girl whoever she is, was currently pouting, which isn't unusual for girls do. But, the subject matter she's complaining about, is ridiculous as she's whining about failing to kill me of all things! I mean, who in their right mind expects an opponent to stay still and let you kill them?! And her tone and manner of speech makes it sound like she thinks this battle was some sort of game, it's just so wrong!
I began shooting the blue unit again and… observed the beams deflected just before striking the shield or rather, the beams changed direction just before hitting the shield surface. Maybe the shield has one of those… what did Carlos call it, Geschmeidig Panzer I think. Supposedly, the Alliance developed it to be able to deflect incoming beams or something, which it seems it does. So, I stopped shooting my rifle, stored it and then moved forward while drawing the pair of beam sabers the Aurora has. I struck my opponent before she had the chance to use her big sword against me again. My opponent managed to avoid my swinging beam sabers, but she retreated back from me, giving me space to work with.
Since I'd just gotten some time, I glanced around to take in the battlefield as it was currently. The Alliance suit that had been riding the mobile armor had gotten to the ground around Shira's airfields and was using its six cannons to cause problems with us defending the Republic. However, both land-based machines from Teswa were contending with that Alliance machine, the two in their quadruped modes. They were circling the enemy machine while pounding it with their weapons. The long-range suit… I believe Carlos called it the X115 Longinus. Anyways, it had a portion of its back raised up which had the long-range beam rifle and gatling guns on it. That section had spun around to point at the enemy suit and was shooting at it. The other Teswa land-based suit, named the X133 Atlas I think, like the Longinus, a section on its back had raised and spun to point at the opposing machine. The four heavy cannons that the Atlas has were sending volley after volley at the enemy.
Graham and Lisa were helping the regular forces whittle down the Earth Alliance mobile suit assaulting forces. Graham was doing so with… rather amazing efficiency, showing that his skills were still in good working order from his time as ZAFT's ace of aces. I'm just glad I don't hear his voice, with him showing how annoyingly boasting he can be while seeming modest. How Graham pulls such an idea off, I have no clue, but I've had to listen to him do that before and it's irritating. Then, the forward ships of the Alliance fleet were having issues as the aquatic suits were attacking them from below.
However, my attention was drawn back when I witnessed the 'mobile armor' change into a mobile suit. The unit was still blue and black like the armor had been. The wings were behind it, helping the suit to keep in the air, while the nose section was behind its head. The head, had the same face that I'd seen before on the front, and I spotted the talons between the wings and the main body of the mobile suit. The only weapon I could see out was the beam rifle in its right hand. There were two machine guns, one attached to either shoulder and if there were any other weapons, they were hidden from sight. Then, upon seeing movement to my right, I realized that the Alliance machine that I'd been fighting moments ago. …Do believe I'm about to be in a battle of two verses one and I'm the one, with them being the two. I don't like this development at all!
The two opponents I had, came at me at the same time. I was forced to block the anti-ship sword with my shield and shoot my beam rifle at the blue and black suit. That one peppered me with machine guns that were apparently built into its talons, which had swung forward and pointed at me. For about a minute, thought I could manage and handle these two, it wouldn't be easy, but I'm sure I could do it. That view changed when a couple of the mass production Alliance machines began adding their weapons' fire in my direction. I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed by this, when I got the clear picture of the Duel like unit, lining up the torso emitter at me. …That's not good! I tried to get out of the way, but ended out getting hit by the beam rifle shot from the black suit, which forced me to stay basically where I was.
I witnessed the beam cannon pointing at me charging, then fire off a plasma beam at me. My eyes widened as the beam came at me, there wasn't enough time for me to get my shield in position in time. But, just before the beam hit the Aurora, something got in between the beam and me, blocking the shot from hitting me. I blinked, at the sight in front of me, for I seriously thought I was seeing things. The mobile suit before me was one I've seen the specs of, but hadn't seen it in person until now. The sight of the dark red and maroon mobile suit with its backpack unit, named the "Fatum-00" in its active use position. The machine also bared a striking resemblance to its 'twin', the Freedom. Yes, I was looking at the Justice and I hadn't thought I would set eyes on this machine since taking the Freedom from Aprilius One. I shook my head and refocused on the matter at hand, "Unknown mobile suit pilot, identify yourself," I ordered over an open channel.
"This is ZAFT special forces agent Athrun Zala," announced a voice I knew all too well.
It was a voice of one that threw me for a second loop. The last time I'd heard it, we hadn't parted on the best of terms, really, I had gotten close to dying the last time we'd been around each other. However, it wasn't Athrun's fault and I don't blame him for what happened, circumstances hadn't been nice at all for either of us. Yet, never would I have expected him to be the pilot assigned the Justice, nor for us to reunite around here and in this situation.
The Alliance mass production suits started shooting in our direction, but then they began being destroyed. The enemy machines were being taken out by Lisa and Graham and that was evening out the odds. I connected a com-channel to the Justice and the sight of Athrun did provide a small modicum of comfort even in the middle of this skirmish, "It's good to see you Athrun, but we'll have to catch up later after this fight is said and done. Your help in this would be very much appreciated, but since ZAFT is not involved, it's up to you," I said while blocking incoming shots aimed at Athrun and me.
The Duel like unit rushed forward at us from one direction and the blue and black mobile suit came at us from the opposite direction. The blue suit, took out their anti-ship sword and swung it around, aiming for the Justice. The black machine took out a beam saber and attacked me, which I stopped with the Aurora's shield. But my attacker also had their talon machine guns peppering me, my suit's phase shift taking the machine gun fire. However, Athrun and I spun around keeping close to one another and switched opponents, to have Athrun facing the black suit and I taking on the blue machine.
Athrun and I fought back against these two mobile suits, working in sync with each other, helping the other in both defense and offense. I was weaving out of the way of the swinging sword, as well as parrying the sword with my beam sabers. Although, I quickly got annoyed with the increasingly irritating pouting that the girl that was piloting the Duel like unit was making. Her complaining about not being able to cleave me in two and how I was being a 'horrible meanie' as she put it for not staying still so she could slice me in half was getting ridiculous!
I ended out getting on the side that the mobile suit had its large shield, grabbed my opponent's suit's shoulder with one hand and the top of the shield with the other. Once my hold was solid, I started pulling hard, attempting to separate the shield from the suit, for my guess is that then this machine then loses its beam deflection ability. The female pilot's complaining changed to her shouting at me over the radio when I started pulling on the shield. She tried to swing the large sword, yet with where I was, she couldn't reach me with the sword as she was holding it with both the suit's hands. Her shouts, very quickly became shrieks for me to get away from her, which I took as encouragement. I was making progress at getting the shield separated from the suit, but it was sure attached well to the mobile suit, yet I wouldn't accept defeat!
I would have ripped the shield off, if I'd had the time to do so, but the black suit that Athrun was fighting, suddenly changed its tactics. They stored their rifle on the left hip, then took out the beam saber it had used against me before as well as a second one. Then, it started slashing wildly at anything that was close to them. Athrun tried to back off, but the black machine didn't let him, even with two Delta Fighters that came to my friend's aid, were destroyed in their attempts to help. So, I decided that my friend needed a helping hand more than I had the urge to teach the girl who'd been swinging a sword at me a lesson.
Instantly, I shifted the hand that held the shoulder and gripped the shield and used both to swing the whole Duel like suit around in a circle… kind of like I'd done with the Blitz at one time. After a few revolutions, I let go and watched for a few second as the suit sailed away, before I turned to face the beam saber wielding psycho trying to kill one of my best friends. Athrun admittedly, was doing darn good at avoiding the sabers swinging, but it was clear whoever was driving the suit had completely lost it. I brought out both Lunarious plasma cannons and had them swing forward to train them on the blue and black unit. Then, I let the cannons charge for a few seconds, before shouting two words to my blue-haired friend, "ATHRUN, DIVE!"
The Justice dove down right after I shouted, leaving the enemy mobile suit in direct line of fire of my plasma cannons. I fired both cannons and watched as the red streams of super-heated energy shot at the intended target. But, the Alliance suit turned sideways, so one beam barely missed, the other pierced its beam rifle. The rifle was detached as it exploded, and the machine backed off a distance. Then… strangely, it shifted back to the mobile armor mode and flew away towards the shore of the Republic.
I didn't take my eyes off the enemy unit as it headed to the mainland. Then I noted that the third custom Alliance suit was being overwhelmed by both land-based suits and a couple of Delta fighter suits. The Delta suits were incumbering the Alliance unit and, if I was seeing correctly, using their recharge cables t to draw power from the struggling machine of its power. However, the blue and black suit fired its weapons, breaking up those who were holding the Alliance suit down. Then the 'mobile armor' used its talons to pick up the Alliance suit and once it had it in its talons the two flew back to the largest Earth Alliance vessel. The blue suit was already heading in that direction as well.
Those of us defending the Republic, put ourselves between the mainland and what remained of the Alliance forces. We were all shooting at the Alliance mobile suits and aircraft that were retreating away already. The majority of the Alliance ships were moving away from the Republic, away from the battle they were losing. Once they were a sizable distance away, I scanned over the battlefield, which brought feelings of pain and sadness to wash over me.
The city of Shira had taken a beating and would need an amount of reconstruction and repairs to look as good as it normally does. Out of the twenty-four Federation vessels that had defended the Republic, three had been sunk in the bay and their outline could be seen underwater and there was a fourth in the process of sinking. Six ships were sluggish, and two was dead in the water and couldn't move. So, that meant that around half of the Republic's defensive fleet was out of commission until major repairs were completed on them.
I don't wish to know who many good people died defended their homeland with everything they could muster. I doubt the number of wounded and dead is small and that hurts. Those three custom Alliance mobile suits had made quite the difference in the battle, I couldn't deny that. Looking at all the destruction of the place I knew as home felt horrible and made me angry at the same time. The Earth Alliance would be brought to task and justice for what they had done here and elsewhere! No matter the justification or excuse the Alliance's leadership had or would come up with for escalating this war of theirs, it shouldn't do this. To destroying another's home just to get your selfish wants, is and always will be wrong!
Phase end
A/n
Okay, and the battle scene of the Federation vs the Earth Alliance is over for the moment, but there'll be more to come! So then, know that this was a PACK chapter what with introducing five new characters, or at least four new ones I've never mentioned and revealing one that I've mentioned before now and have filled in more information about them. Now on a bit of a personal note, please some of you readers write a review. I'm not asking for a paragraph or essay telling me things or a list of questions (Though those are always neat). I don't care about spelling or grammar (I'm no English teacher, I assure you), as long as I can understand what is being said, it's good. For those who write on fanfiction, I would bet some of you know what I'm talking about when I say, sometimes, it feels like I'm writing to hear myself think for the reason I have to do so, (Those are private, I'm not insane, that's all that needs to be said). Anyways, thank you for reading my rant for reviews. Until the next chapter!
Mobile suit Specs (in numerical order, there's a number of them)
Model number: HFS-X115
Official name: Longinus Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable Long-Range Assault Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 17.9 meters
Weight: 85.3 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas
Sensory Neural Interfacing Precision Extended Range Targeting system (SNIPER-T)
The system is used for long-ranged sniping and involves the pilot using a hidden scope and focusing on sniping, while others fight off any who should get close enough to attack the mobile suit. The central fin raises up, uncovering the large mono-ocular optic scope for use for enhanced image targeting.
" Homura Deflection" system emitters
The system is made up of two separate collections of emitters, they are mounted on shield flaps on either shoulder fin that flip forward for use and can deflect beams.
Phantom Stealth system
An improved system and based on the Specter Optical Camouflage Field. It is harder to see through this stealth system and is more efficient with its energy consumption
Operating System
The OS that the Longinus has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's Operating System for mobile suits that Natruals and Coordinators can use
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
M2M3 45mm CIWS guns
A pair of the CIWS are built into the forehead area of the Longinus' head. They're fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
MA-M978 "Mazan" Beam Sabers
One of the Longinus' two close combat beam weaponry, the pair of beam sabers are stored on the side armor and they are usable only in MS mode.
"Spitfire" 75mm Gatling Guns
The second of the Longinus' closer range weapons, the pair is mounted on two rails on the back that come out right above the hips, and they are loaded with anti-phase shift rounds
Handheld Armaments:
"Morphious" 275mm multi-range beam rifle
A long-barreled beam rifle, the "Morphious" Rifle is the Longinus' primary armament. While its firing rate is low, it is able to snipe at long distances by working with other powerful sensors. As such, its for Longinus to attack enemies from outside their search operation area. Only users with high marksmanship skills are able to use the weapon effectively.
Model number: HFS-X133
Official name: Atlas Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable Artillery and Assault mobile suit.
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 18.2 meters
Weight: 87.25 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas
Phantom Stealth system
An improved system and based on the Specter Optical Camouflage Field. It is harder to see through this stealth system and is more efficient with its energy consumption
Operating System
The OS that the Atlas has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's Operating System for mobile suits that Natruals and Coordinators can use
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
M2M5 "Todeh" 50mm CIWS Guns
There is one pair of the "Todeh" CIWS that are mounted into both sides of the Atlas' head and the other pair is built into the upper torso. The ones in the upper torso is only operable in quadruped mode. Each pair is fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
"Ra" 90mm Railgun
The Atlas has two railguns, one mounted on the insides of the "Gozer" beam cannons and they come out at the same time as the beam cannons.
"Gozer" 225mm High-Energy Beam Cannons
A pair is mounted on backpack and come over the shoulders when they are in firing position
Handheld Armaments:
MX90 Arm Shield
The shield is attached to the left arm of the Atlas and its coated with anti-beam coating.
- "Lowus" 100mm Dual Ram Cannon
A pair of beam cannons mounted on the shield, they have an excellent rate of fire.
- GDR-17/A "Panzer Eisen III" rocket anchor
The Atlas is also equipped with a shield mounted "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchors, which are of similar type as the one used on the Strike with its Sword Striker pack. However, they are grappling claws that are shot out on a line to hit or grab an enemy unit and not a smaller anchor.
Model number: HFS-Y124
Official name: Cancer Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable Aquatic Stealth Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 18.2 meters
Weight: 89.09 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas
"Ghost" Jamming System
A system that is specifically designed to scramble sonar that seaborn ships. This is done by amplifying all signals and in essences "deafening" all sonar being used that aren't prepared to deal with such a thing.
Operating System
The OS that the Atlas has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's Operating System for mobile suits that Natruals and Coordinators can use
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
MMI GAU20A 40mm CIWS Guns
There is one pair of CIWS that are mounted into the upper torso of the Cancer. They are fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
"Voroars" 75mm Railgun
The Cancer has two railguns mounted on the back, and they can flip up and over the shoulders to firing position.
M103 "BarCoot" High-Energy Beam Cannon
A pair of these mounted on the shields on both arms and cannot fire underwater.
"Zrack" Torpedo Launchers
Three launchers built into each of the Cancer's shields, behind the beam cannons and are the offensive option other than the railguns.
Handheld Armaments:
"Cutlass" Anti-Ship Sword
The Cutlass is one the first attempts to produce an anti-ship sword that collapse down when stored. It still utilizes a beam cutting blade along one side of the blade, however, it is a thermal beam so that it can be used underwater as well as above. It is stored on the backpack when not in use.
Model number: HFS-Y142
Official name: Leviathan Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable Underwater Strike Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 18.5 meters
Weight: 88.18 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas
"Ghost" Jamming System
A system that is specifically designed to scramble sonar that seaborn ships. This is done by amplifying all signals and in essences "deafening" all sonar being used that aren't prepared to deal with such a thing.
Operating System
The OS that the Atlas has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's Operating System for mobile suits that Natruals and Coordinators can use
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
M95 52mm CIWS Machine Guns
There is one pair of CIWS that are mounted into the upper torso of the Leviathan and. They are fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
"Fujin" 80mm Railguns
There are two mounted on the outside of the shoulders. When deployed, they swing up and forward to fire. When submersible mode is used, they flip upward and face forward to be used.
"Voltz" 60mm Railguns
They are mounted on the inside the backpack and only usable in submersible mode
"Sone" Torpedo Launchers
There are six launchers, three built into each shoulder and they are only usable in submersible mode
"Miyolnor" 300mm Multi-Phase energy cannon
A high-powered energy cannon mounted on the backpack of the Leviathan. Based upon the same cannon incorporated into the GAT-X303 Aegis, it can deal serious destruction to anything in its path. It can also be used to discourage enemy units from closing in and is often used just after popping up above the surface of the water for a precision strike that is nigh impossible to counter.
Handheld Armaments:
"Horus" Thermal Beam Anchor
Modeled on a javelin, the beam anchor has three separate cutting beam blades, two of them go off to either side of the center opposite of each other, while the third is in the center creating a piercing point. All the beam blades are experimental thermal version that are usable underwater as well as above.
Model number: HFS-Z127
Official name: Thanatos Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable High Mobility Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 18.12 meters
Weight: 85.9 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas.
Wing Shield
There are two wing shields, mounted on the sides of the backpack. the pair of Wing Shields are movable and boost the Thanatos's turning ability when its dogfights in flight mode and adds to the High-Mobility Aerial Maneuver system. They can also be a defense as they are coated with anti-beam coating and their length provide excellent coverage.
Grapple Carrying System
The system is made up of hooks that slot into holes on what it carries, and this allows for carrying another mobile suit while in flight mode and drop them somewhere else on a battlefield. This system can also care a payload instead of a mobile suit for the same purpose.
Phantom Stealth System
An improved system and based on the Specter Optical Camouflage Field. It is harder to see through this stealth system and is more efficient with its energy consumption.
Operation System
The OS that the Thanatos has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's system for both Naturals and Coordinators.
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
"Shano" 225mm Plasma Cannon
The cannon is mounted in the center unit of the backpack, which is also the nosecone in flight mode and is a movable beam cannon. It is the most powerful weapon the unit has at its disposal and is usable in flight mode and MS mode. When not in use in MS mode, the backpack center unit, but it can rotate and flip forward when for ready use.
"Howles" 115mm Railguns
The two railguns are mounted in the backpack section and they're usable in flight mode and MS mode. In MS mode, they can flip forward when in use while in flight mode, they face forward.
M85 55mm CIWS guns
There is one pair of CIWS that are mounted into the head of the Thanatos on both sides. They are fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
MA-M978 "Mazan" Beam Saber
The Thanatos is equipped with two "Mazan" Beam Sabers, which are stored in recharge racks in compartments on the outside of the forearms when not in use. The two beam sabers can be combined into a double-bladed beam saber, much like the Freedom and the Justice can do with their beam sabers in the form known as 'Ambidextrous Halberd' however, the Thanatos' is called the "Dual Corseque".
MMS-GUA "Spitfire" 65mm Vulcans
The "Spitfire" 65mm vulcan guns are the shell firing weapons of the Thanatos's Flight mode and serve the same purpose as the CIWS. They are located on the backpack on either side of the nose section of the Thanatos' flight mode.
Handheld Armaments:
SR23 "Barret" 250mm Long Beam Rifle
The SR23 "Barret" 250mm Long beam rifle is the main weapon of the Thanatos Gundam. It can be used as a sniping-type rifle or a medium range weapon and has decent penetrating power.
Model number: HFS-Z151
Official name: Athena Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Strike Assault Transformable Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Teswa R&D
Operator: Federation Military
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 18.3 meters
Weight: 86.6 tons
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Powerplant: Advance Ultracompact Duel Sync battery, slow recharging function (experimental)
Equipment and design features:
Phase Shift Type-Sigma (PS-S)
A new variation of the Phase Shift armor system, developed by the Federation. Works similar to the original idea, but is now made to be more efficient by distributing the voltage to the needed areas more than the non-needed areas.
High-Mobility Aerial Maneuver System (HiMAMs)
Similar to the HiMATs, the system gives higher maneuverability. Gives a great advantage in flight mode, but also in MS mode and is better suited for aerial dogfighting.
Grapple Carrying System
The system is made up of hooks that slot into holes on what it carries, and this allows for carrying another mobile suit while in flight mode and drop them somewhere else on a battlefield. This system can also care a payload instead of a mobile suit for the same purpose.
Phantom Stealth System
An improved system and based on the Specter Optical Camouflage Field. It is harder to see through this stealth system and is more efficient with its energy consumption.
Operation System
The OS that the Thanatos has is the G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis, the Federation's system for both Naturals and Coordinators.
MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/Version MV3 - N200 /
General
Unilateral
Neuros - Network
DispersiveAutonomic
Maneuver
G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System
Human Federation
Fixed armaments:
"StingRay" CIWS guns
There is one pair of CIWS that are mounted into the head of the Athena on both sides. They are fire-linked so that they will fire at the same time with a single command and are loaded with newly developed anti-phase shift rounds, where are effective against mobile suits with a Phase Shift Armor system. Their purpose is to intercept missile and other projectiles, but they can also penetrate light to moderate armor.
MA-M978 "Mazan" Beam Sabers
The Athena is equipped with two "Mazan" Beam Sabers, which are stored in recharge racks on the rear skirt. The two beam sabers can be combined into a double-bladed beam saber, much like the Freedom and the Justice can do with their beam sabers in the form known as 'Ambidextrous Halberd' however, the Athena's is called the "Dual Corseque".
"Locus" 8-tube Micro-Missile Pod
There are two sets of eight pod launchers built into the left and right Booster Units. The missiles can be fired one at a time or fired all at once in a large swarm.
M2M2 70mm Vulcan Guns
There is a pair mounted in the flight nose section, only useable during flight mode and are the shell firing weapons of the Athena's Flight mode and serve the same purpose as the CIWS.
M2M3 75mm Machine Guns
There is one mounted on both the left and right forearms on the underside. They rapidly fire a barrage at the target at close and medium range effectively.
"Gauss" 90mm twin Railguns
A combination of two railguns side by side into one weapon, there is one mounted on the both sides of the lower backpack to give four in total.
Optional Armaments:
"Spatter-fire" 85mm Rapid-fire Ion Rifles
A short length rifle which is built to be like a machine gun but fires energy like ZAFT's heavy Ion Cannon. The Athena has two of these rifles and can store them on the side skirts. While in Flight mode, the rifles are held by the hands and turned sideways. [Think of Airmaster gundam]
MA M25 "Halzer" Beam Lance
The beam lance is made with beam saber specs but mounts the emitter at the end of a pole. When not in use, the lance is collapsed down into half of its full length and is holstered along the backpack between the railguns.
Model number: GAT-X130
Official name: Raptor Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Artillery Assault Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance
Operator: Earth Alliance
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: pilot in panoramic monitor/linear seat cockpit in torso
Pilot: Rossweisse Galiena
Overall Height: 17.9 meters
Weight: max gross 70 tons
Powerplant: Ultracompact Energy Battery
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Equipment and design features:
Trans Phase Armor
A new version of the PS armor, Trans Phase armored suits do not change color when the armor is activated. It is a two-layer armor system with the PS armor in the inner layer activating only when the outer armor is breached. This design thus helps to reduce energy consumption and allows the equipped suit to have a longer operational time as well as for more power to be reserved for the suits's weapon.
Fixed armaments:
2 × "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannon
A pair of back-mounted beam cannons which rise up over the shoulders. They have excellent rate of fire and destructive power, and are capable of easily destroying an enemy force from range.
2 x "Eckzahn" 100mm railguns
A pair is mounted along the outsides of the high-energy cannons, and like the cannons will flip out and forward when being used, but they flip downward then forward around the hip level of the suit.
2 x "Volgan" plasma cannons
A pair are mounted, one on either side on the outside of the shoulder. The swing up and forward when used.
2 x beam saber
The pair are stored in compartments that are on the outside of the upper legs, hand-carried in use
Optional hand armaments:
"Todesblock" 337mm Plasma-Sabot Bazooka
A hand carried shell-based weaponry, it has a high rate of fire and causes serious damage and shock around the impact area.
Anti-beam Shield
Attached to the left forearm and/or handheld, the shield is made out of materials derived from the outer armor of spaceships like the Laurasia-class. As a result, it is light yet superhard. In addition, its surface has been given anti-beam treatment and the sharp tip can be used as a weapon during close combat.
Model number: GAT-X251
Official name: Sinister Gundam
Unit type: Prototype High-Speed Front-Line Assault Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance
Operator: Earth Alliance
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Pilot: Lafter Galiena
Overall Height: 17.47 m
Weight: 85.33 t
Power-plant: Ultracompact Energy Battery
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Equipment and design features:
Geschmeidig Panzer
Mounted in the shield, it is a system that utilizes colloid particles to repel and redirect energy beams away from the mobile suit. The particles used are different from those in Mirage Colloid stealth system, but both systems are similar as powerful magnetic fields are needed to hold the particles in place above the armor. This deflection system however seems to be ineffective against close combat beam weapons, as ZGMF-X09A Justice beam boomerang is able to damage the shields' surface. This system is also used for moving through water and counteracting water pressure.
Trans Phase Armor
A new version of the PS armor, Trans Phase armored suits do not change color when the armor is activated. It is a two-layer armor system with the PS armor in the inner layer activating only when the outer armor is breached. This design thus helps to reduce energy consumption and allows the equipped suit to have a longer operational time as well as for more power to be reserved for the suits's weapon.
Armaments:
Fixed:
"Igelstellung" 80mm Multi-barrel CIWS
Two of these light projectile weapons are mounted in the Sinister's head and although designated as Anti-Air, they can be used for missile interception and to destroy lightly armored vehicles.
"Loaus" high-energy beam cannon
The cannon is mounted on the back, on the right side and flips upward over the shoulder when used
"Mazer" 300mm Multi-Phased beam cannon
Mounted in the torso in front of the cockpit
Missile Launchers
The launchers are built into the outside of both forearms
Handheld:
"Claymorn" Anti-ship sword
The Sinister Gundam, has a 15m sword with 13m cutting beam along its length and sharp end point for penetration. It is stored on the back on the left when the sword when it's not in use.
Model number: GAT-X333
Official name: Bandit Gundam
Unit type: Prototype Transformable Long-Range Assault Aerial Mobile Suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance
Operator: Earth Alliance
Pilot: Deborah Galiena
First deployment: June 1st 71 C.E.
Accommodation: Pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Overall Height: 17.94 m
Weight: 84.9 t
Power-plant: Ultracompact energy battery
Armor Material: Phase Shift Armor
Equipment and design features:
Sub-wing
A support device featuring a flying wing design developed for use with the Raider Full Spec. It contains ramjet engines that are used after the MS enters the atmosphere with its atmospheric entry capsule. Hardpoints are located on the top surface so as to maintain the MS's aerial characteristics and to allow the weapons to be used by the MS's arms. These hardpoints can also be used to mount auxiliary engines, or propellant tanks. Interestingly, the sub-wing has been known to be used as a ramming weapon by creative pilots.
Trans Phase Armor
A new version of the PS armor, Trans Phase armored suits do not change color when the armor is activated. It is a two-layer armor system with the PS armor in the inner layer activating only when the outer armor is breached. This design thus helps to reduce energy consumption and allows the equipped suit to have a longer operational time as well as for more power to be reserved for the suits's weapon.
Armaments
Fixed:
2 × M2M3 76mm Machine Gun
The M2M3 76mm machine gun is one of the ballistic weapons used by the Raider Full Spec. They are mounted in the shoulders and are usable only in MA mode.
2 × M20 20mm Machine Gun
The suit has two such machine guns, one in each claw. They replace the Raider Gundam's "Ahura Mazda" short-range energy cannons.
Handheld:
GAU-8M2 52mm Machine Gun
A handheld machine gun, it is stored on the sub-wing's hardpoints and can be fired in this manner or be detached and used by the suit's arms.
2 x beam sabers
Stored in compartments in the hips
Optional Armaments:
70mm High Energy Beam Rifle
Tends to be the main ranged weapon when in MS mode, it is hand-held when in used and can be stored on the side binders.
6 × AIM-957F "King Cobra" Missile
The AIM-957F is a highly maneuverable missile that features an advanced Target Detection Device and AI system, thus it is capable of tracking and predicting an enemy's movement. The suit can carry a total of 6 such missiles, 2 missiles can be mounted on top of the shoulder armor and the other 4 can be mounted on the sub-wing's hardpoints in place of other weaponry or equipment.
