"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter XX: Burning Space

Anaheim dockship La Vie en Rose
System J-292
August 20, GC 379

"Incoming!" one of the crewmen shouted in warning as the all too familiar buzzing noise struck Kamaria's ears. Sure enough, another pair of Bugs came zipping into the corridor, blades whirring and set to kill her and the rest of her teammates as soon as they drew closer in. Naturally those present humans didn't make it so easy for them, firing their beam rifles as soon as the drones entered in sight, downing one at the onset and then diving for the deck as the other came swooping in. No sooner than when it had passed did Kamaria take aim and fire off a snapshot, blowing that Bug out of the air as well.

"Great," did one of her comrades comment upon the smoking remnant striking the deck. "Two down, still many more to go."

"Let's get back at it then!" the team lead commanded as the rest of the group got back up, then taking down the deck for more inevitable targets. Kamaria did well to keep up while ignoring the strain of her body. She didn't know how much time had passed since the Babbys had launched their "boarding action", but it felt like hours now, and as her comrade just stated there were still plenty of Bugs to kill in her section alone. And to think, she mused to herself, this was supposed to be a nice, quiet refurbishment run.

For the time being however, her present focus and actions were enough to keep her other thoughts at bay, the ones that she had tried her best not to bring up since the Ark Royal's first arrival. Even now however, in the midst of fighting for her life and the lives aboard her ship, she could not fully dismiss them. The knowledge that, somewhere out there, her son was fighting on his own battlefield. Fighting against enemies that – by the rights of all that he was and what he should have been – he should not have been able to contend with. And yet Kamaria knew better, much better.

The mere thought, and the accompanying image of Amuro in a mobile suit taking the fight to the Babbys, was enough for Kamaria to almost feel numb all over, again despite all that was happening around her. In fact, she would have been sick to her stomach had she not been so concentrated, knowing that her son had not only become a soldier, but was now the very White Devil that had terrified the Zeon and perhaps the whole of the galaxy at Juno, and then Anges. Her son, the one-time prodigal engineer, who again by all facts and logic – again had she not known any better – should not have been able to fight, much less fight so well. Her own child. Her own…

She grimaced through her movements, forcing the thoughts and knowledge back once again. As much as it affected her, she knew she couldn't dwell on it now, lest the Bugs end up swarming her. Besides, she reaffirmed, Amuro's apparent accomplishments may not have indicated so much. The White Devil he might have been, but that didn't mean…

"Three more!" her team lead called out again as he raised his rifle, causing her and the rest to follow suit. Seconds later, more of the hellish discs came zipping in through the deck, resulting in more beam fire.

Despite that and her continued efforts however, Kamaria's thoughts remained dwelling upon her son. Who, despite all of her assurances, just may have been doing now what she truly feared, and had feared for so long. Decimating the enemy ranks as a true demon.

Another Zon came charging at him, shot lancer poised to impale while the built-in twin beam machine guns blazed away. Amuro dodged, banking to his right and flitting around as the Cosmo Babylonian suit flew past, then triggering his own vulcans the moment its back was exposed to him. Though it didn't totally destroy the enemy mobile suit, it did knock out its primary Apollo Thrusters, effectively knocking the bulky Zaku wannabe off of its flight path, where it flung aimlessly through the void until Amuro finished it with a snap beam rifle shot. That was enough to obliterate wholesale, but of course there remained many more to deal with where that one had been.

From that, two more enemy suits, a Zon and a Gei, came at him, both firing their respective twin guns in sequence, to which he hit his own thrusters and launched over their bursts. In his place, Sayla brought Unit Gamma about to support, charging at the latter suit with her beam saber set to strike. The Babby pilot was just quick enough to counterfire with his lancer, launching the rocket projectile out to dissuade her, but the Valkyrie of Riah easily moved around this before cleaving the higher end Babylonian suit at waist level, both halves spiraling away to parts of space unknown. All the while Amuro gunned down its Zon wingmate alongside, first planting a beam rifle shot through its goggle eyed head, and then finishing it with a following strike through the cockpit. Two more down, still more to go, despite the fact the Federals were making some pretty good headway through the fight.

Not that either Amuro or Sayla were surprised as they moved against another enemy mobile suit group, firing their beam rifles in tandem as they approached and striking down two more Zons for good measure. Once more compared to what they had fought against with Aznable, Delaz and Garma, the Babbys were hardly a difficult challenge for them, even with their differing mobile suits and corresponding tactics. A point that was emphasized when one of the present Geis fired its shoulder mounted missiles, attempting to dissuade either Gundam from moving in further while its comrades laid down lancer beam fire, only for the two aces to simply gun their thrusters and charge through, not even engaging their beam shields as they drew in for the kill.

Responding just as quickly, two of the Zons banked away to try and flank either Gundam, moving into a pincer attack before firing either machine gun burst. Amuro and Sayla dodged both attacks, with Amuro snapshotting the Zon closer to him apart for good measure while Sayla chose to circle around before she blasted her adversary to kingdom come. It was then the Gei from before made itself known again, moving to impale Amuro from the flank. To this, the White Devil raised his left beam shield to deflect, but found even that was unnecessary as Sayla blasted in and slammed her gauntlet into the Babby unit's own side. The Gei exploded rather spectacularly, with Unit Gamma moving through the flames, scarlet armor gleaming.

Signaling his gratitude through their link, Amuro kept his focus on the battle, taking a brief moment to scan over the field with both his sensors and his Newtype powers. There were still plenty of Babbys to kill, but again he, Sayla, Commander Law and the other four were making great headway, such that the "cosmo aristocrats" were hardly containing them, let alone dominating. It was strangely refreshing to Amuro, considering that he and his comrades had spent the last several battles fighting for their lives against opponents that, if not entirely superior, still had pushed them into the corner and came close to wiping them all out. Compared to them, the Babbys were barely holding on for dear life, especially against he and Sayla.

Were we always this strong? the White Devil couldn't help but wonder for a moment, pondering if this was all a product of their battle experience or if they had, in fact, always been so powerful. A part of him easily believed it to be the former – after all, he and the rest of the Ark Royal had been through the crucible and had come out stronger for it – while another part couldn't help but feel rather differently, at least about himself. A line of thought that again brought to mind his being the White Devil…

Ultimately deciding it was a non-issue – for the time being anyway – Amuro selected another line of targets and flew out, Sayla following him in Unit Gamma. Again as they approached more Cosmo Babylonians fell, yet more of their comrades refused to yield, returning the Federal mobile suits' fire with their shot lancer guns or outright charging back after them, actual lances set to strike. Not that it amounted to any more than those before them had tried as the two Gundams and their ace pilots waded through the fire and fury, slaying their opponents almost methodically as the chaos waged on in the Feddies' favor.

This is getting sad, Sleggar thought as he gunned down the second Zon in the opposing the team. No sooner than the Babby suit erupted in flame did the third and final teammate come at him, firing its lance tip out in a desperate attempted to catch him off guard at the flank. Sleggar easily dodged that, though to the Babby pilot's credit, the Zon was quick to follow up with a burst from its still functional beam machine guns, all the while moving into an evasive pattern itself. Unfortunately for it however, Sleggar was just as quickly to fire a crack shot through its cockpit, both pilot and mobile suit made expanding vapors before the latter ever figured out he had been hit. From that, Unit Beta turned about and moved on for other prey.

Maybe I should have stayed on the Rose and watched the show with Bright and Mirai, Sleggar continued to think, almost feeling the urge to stifle a non-existent yawn. No, he remained far from bored and unstimulated, but the fact remained that this not in the least the hardest fight he had ever taken part in. By now killing Denans was as repetitive as taking down average green Zakus, and though Sleggar very much preferred it that way to dealing with more flamboyantly colored suits with opposing ace in the cockpit, it was still tedious work in spite of the circumstances. And to think, it was hadn't been too long ago when that high and mighty Ronah jerk had…

His thoughts were then interrupted as a new signal appeared on his sensors, flying out from the enemy command ship much faster than those he had been fighting. Instincts and reflexes both kicking in, Sleggar threw Unit Beta into the evasive, reversing and maneuvering around as the newcomer gave chase, firing its beam machine guns as it charged after him. And though the Eagle of Arcturus had little issue dodging the fire and keeping his distance, he could easily tell that his opponent was in fact one of those aces he hadn't wanted to fight, piloting a mobile suit that – as well as being tinted another color from Babylonian grey – was far and away not a Denan Zon.

"Heh, so much for tediousness," Sleggar let out as he zipped through space, exchanging fire with the new mobile suit while looking it over in detail. Painted in dark green, it definitely had all the hallmarks of a Babby mobile suit, from the goggle eye sensors to the overelaborate armor, but that was where its similarities to the Denan series ended. Besides the mohawked helmet piece over its head module, the extended shoulder armor and bulbous, round torso, its defining feature was the wing-like apparatus on its backpack, which was obviously the source of its greater than average propulsion. Sleggar could easily see the line of six apollo thrusters along that assembly, which was clearly geared for both speed and mobility. And of course, there was the standard shot lancer in its right hand – which he did well to keep track of – and corresponding beam shield in its left forearm.

Quite the hotrod, Sleggar couldn't help but think as he zigzagged around the enemy suit's fire, and then banked out of the way of its lance thrust. He then attempted to aim his beam rifle for a kill shot, but the enemy pilot was fast enough to raise his beam shield to deflect the intended beam blast. It then responded accordingly with more machine gun fire.

"You'll have to do better than that plebian!" Sleggar heard a very familiar, high accented voice call out over his comm. circuit as the enemy suit pressed the attack.

At that, an excited grin emerged over the Eagle of Arcturus' lips. "Nice!" he called back over the comlink, firing his vulcans to dissuade the Babby unit from making another lance charge. "I was hoping to get a piece of you before this was over!"

In the Berga Dalas' cockpit, Zerik's own lips twisted back into a disgusted sneer. To think he had to lower himself into dirtying his hands against some Earthnoid inbred – which Zerik had little doubt to be the actual case – who just happened to have some overdone refuse of a mobile suit to play with. Still, that inbred was the Eagle of Arcturus, so Zerik supposed killing him would make a fair caveat, as well as something to gloat to his Zeon counterparts over. And of course, there was always the satisfaction in silencing the classless boor.

"So how about it blueblood?" Sleggar chimed in challenge, knowing he as ruffling Zerik's feathers that much more as he kept up the evasion and counterattack. "Still think you got the dropped balls for it?"

"More than ever Earthnoid!" Zerik bellowed in response, machine gun bursts still oncoming. Classless boor with a better than average suit he might have been, but Zerik could see it would still take some effort to bring the Eagle of Arcturus down. "I'll bring your heads before Emperor Gihren personally!"

"Yeah yeah, like I haven't heard that before either," Sleggar retorted as he fired more beam rifle shots, putting the enemy suit into a evasive pattern as well. Pompous bastard he might have been, but Sleggar could tell this particular Ronah was a fair enough mobile suit pilot, and again his machine was leaps and bounds ahead of the regular forces. Still, such would only make his killing Zerik Ronah all the more worthwhile, not to mention satisfying. Sleggar was actually looking forward to it. "Alright bishie, make my trophy wall!"

Letting out a thoroughly infuriated roar, Zerik again gunned his thrusters and launched after the blue mobile suit, ready and willing to finish the Eagle then and there. Not that Sleggar – now grinning like a madman – would oblige him so easily however, the Federal ace once more dodging and counterfiring at the Babby suit's flank, only for Zerik to maneuver away as well.

That particular segment of the battle only escalated from that point on.

Anaheim dockship La Vie en Rose
System J-292

He'll never change, Mirai thought with a smirk as she watched her ex do battle against that new Babby suit, whose pilot was clearly aggravated now. She didn't have to listen in on the comm. exchange to know how; as had been observed and commented on several times, Sleggar had a knack for throwing his opponents off edge with simple words. And if the pilot of that particular mobile suit really was who she suspected, then she had little doubt the Eagle of Arcturus was having a field day on that front.

"Heh," Bright commented verbally as well, folding his arms as he too watched Unit Beta engage in a gun duel that new Babby suit, then shifting back to the battle at large. By all facts and appearances, his side appeared to have the fighting well in hand; even the four Guncannons that had made it out before the Rose had been sealed were going to town on the Denan Zons and Denan Geis, which were supposed to outperform the Federal suits by a fair margin. It was almost a foreign sensation; a battle in which Bright side was dominating instead of fighting with their backs against the wall. There had already been too few of those since the war began, such that Bright found himself appreciating it in the present.

Of course, neither he nor Mirai were so caught up in the fighting that they believed it to be wrapped up then and there. A good thing, considering one of the bridge operators sounded off in that moment. "New signals coming in from warp!"

"Damn it," Hacksell growled under her breath, somehow keeping from squeezing her eyes shut in frustration. She should have known from the start that there would be more Babbys out there. "How many this time?"

"Nine ships!" the operator reported, before looking up again. "They're entering now!"

Sure enough, several more Cosmo Babylonian warships dropped out of warp just off the Rose's starboard side, some initial distance away from the fighting but closing in rapidly. No more than seconds from their emergence did they begin launching their own mobile suits.

Who in the…!? Zerik managed to think as he picked up on the new fleet's arrival, even as he dodged more beam rifle shots from his opponent. As much as he would have been relieved to see the allied force, he did not recall sending out for them, nor did the Patriarch inform him of such a fleet. This only meant one certain conclusion that Zerik had hoped to avoid at all costs, much to his dismay.

As though on cue, a vidwindow appeared at the corner of his panoramic monitor, displaying the image of a man not far from his age. A man characterized by his light brown hair, with one lock of it falling and shrouding over his right eye, and the disdain projected by his left, visible eye. As well as the black and gold Cosmo Armada uniform he was adorned by, complete with commander tabs.

"Burgess," Zerik snarled, even as he dodged another beam shot from the enemy blue mobile suit, to which he responded with his shot lancer guns. "What are you doing here?"

"Obviously I'm your relief cousin," Commander Burgess Ronah exclaimed with an air of amused superiority toward his relative's predicament. "I'm here to support you in case the task proved too much for you to handle, which it clearly has."

"I wasn't informed of any relief," Zerik let out right as he threw up his beam shield to absorb a snap vulcan burst from his adversary. It had already been straining enough fighting the Eagle, but now he had to do it while having a conversation on the side. This only amused his thrice damned cousin that much more.

"As though the Patriarch would waste his breath doing so," Burgess exclaimed almost dismissively. "Though he had his doubts toward your ability, he at least gave you your chance toward sinking the Ark Royal. You have since squandered that chance, so here I am to pull your pathetic shell out of the fire and complete the task at the same time."

"Bastard!" Zerik growled toward his blood relation, simultaneously firing another beam machine gun barrage after the Eagle. The Feddie ace withdrew some distance to evade, but still counterattacked, forcing Zerik to dodge as well.

Once more Burgess could not help but smile toward his cousin's plight. "You need not concern yourself with this matter any further Zerik," Burgess stated with utmost assurance in his own capability. "Though not by your hand, and certainly not to your glory, the Ark Royal and her mobile suits will still be vanquished. You need only sit back and watch as I finish what you could not."

Burgess' left eye then gleamed as he added. "That is, if you survive long enough to witness it," he said before terminating the comlink.

"Son of a…!" Zerik began to curse right as his opponent vaunted to his flank and fired another rifle shot. Only a snap maneuver kept the Berga Dalas from being struck in the middle, but the follow up managed to blast off a large chunk of the suit's right armor pauldron. Zerik hissed as after his blue adversary, which had at last struck first blood. "Damn you!"

"I've heard that before too," Sleggar chimed once more as he pressed the offensive, laying additional rifle shots to keep his target maneuvering. Though he was better at focusing on the fight than his erstwhile opponent, the entry of that knew Babby taskforce did not fail to register. And though he doubted the newcomers were any more capable than those already there, Sleggar was starting to worry again.

We have to wrap this up quickly, the Gundam pilot thought as he threw up his own beam shield to deflect Zerik Ronah's next machine gun burst. Before the whole system gets drowned in vieux riche assholes cosplaying as pirates.

Indeed there was little doubt more Babbys would start showing up the longer he and his side took. And though the good guys were having a run of the place in the present, that could very well change if the aristos started showing up en masse, especially if they brought their actual elite forces with them. Once more the likes of the Black Vanguard, Silver Ghost and Dark Tiger Squadrons came to Sleggar's mind, much to his ever present apprehension.

Unfortunately there was nothing he could do on finishing things quickly himself, beyond his killing this one Ronah of course. Instead he could only let the other six Shrikes handle the rest, though Sleggar had little doubt they would do just that.

"And then there was more," Shiro muttered distastefully as he and Kiki drove their Guncannons toward the next wave, the other Shrikes moving in alongside. Expectedly the Gundams were the first to reach firing range, already shooting down four or five of the new arrivals before breaking through the enemy formation, causing the rest to disperse thereafter, from which the Guncannons easily followed on. Up front it didn't appear that the Babylonian reinforcements were any better than those previous, especially as Shiro gunned down two Zons with a sweep of his shoulder gatling cannons, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. And they still had more numbers than before.

"Heh heh, one little two little three little Babbys!" Eledore sang while also entering in, unleashing his shoulder cannons into a Gei and obliterating the whole unit from the waist up. From there, he engaged his beam shield as another Zon attempted to flank him, raking beam machine gun fire at the Trooper's left side. A pair of missiles from Karen's Hellfire easily took care of the problem, but it wasn't long before another Zon team came after them, lance guns blazing as they approached.

To this, Karen snap fired her beam rifle, managing to strike one of the Babby units in the right shoulder pauldron but not deep enough to blow the whole arm assembly. Before she could correct that error, the three enemy suits broke away and scattered, choosing to circle the two Guncannons and spray them with coordinated fire than charge head on. A worthwhile effort Karen admitted, but it wasn't long before she managed to hit her original target again, this time landing a beam straight through the middle. She then banked left and fired another missile into the back of what she presumed to be the team leader while Eledore gunned down the third.

Meanwhile, Sayla again switched from her beam rifle to her saber, right as two other Zons and their Gei team lead came at her with their lances. Without bothering to evade up front, she simply drove her mobile suit forward, engaging her left arm shield to knock away the initial strike while slashing the first Zon across the left, only then jetting up and over its comrade's own attack. She would have killed it then and there, but the Gei took the opportunity to fire its guns in support, forcing her to dodge that attack as well.

Responding quickly, Sayla put Unit Gamma into a thruster assisted lunge, almost instantly driving her blade straight through the Gei's finned head, specifically the left goggle eye. More than enough of an opening for her to slash her saber out and then cut the command suit across the back, and then grabbing its shot lancer before kicking the ruined suit away. Right as the Gei detonated did the second Zon come at her again, to which she promptly aimed and fired the lance tip of her captured weapon, driving it straight through the enemy suit's torso. It too exploded thereafter.

Utterly inelegant, Sayla thought almost contemptuously as she tossed away the now used lancer away, right as additional Babby units entered into view. Brandishing her saber, she jetted after them, firing her vulcans as she closed in for additional effect. More Babylonians fell soon after, yet there remained even more her to dispatch as she and the other Shrikes fought on.

Anaheim dockship La Vie en Rose
System J-292

"That's it!" the team lead called out as he signed off from his communique with the bridge, the smoking remains of the apparent last Bug nearby. "Section's all clear!"

With the action finally over with, Kamaria at last allowed herself to fall against the bulkhead, the exhaustion firmly catching up to her. She didn't know if there were still any more of the killing machines around the ship, and at that point she didn't care; all that mattered was that her own portion was fumigated, and that she could finally relax. This suited her just fine, to say nothing of her comrades, who all held much similar inclinations.

This is why I never became a soldier, Kamaria thought as she fought to get her breathing back under control. For the life of her she could never understand why anyone would ever want the military life. Oh yes she knew her ex-husband was a Captain in the EFSF, but he was in as a scientist. And as far as Amuro was concerned, it wasn't until she had seen for herself his coming off the Ark Royal that she would have believed his joining up either.

No sooner than when her son returned to her thoughts did Kamaria feel her insides twist again, causing her expression to cringe. He was still out there, she knew; still fighting the Babylonians with the other Federals that managed to get out before the lockdown. The mere implication…

"Holy hell, look at those bastards go!" one of her teammates called out rather loudly, causing her to look up. There, huddled across one of the nearby terminals, her comrades were now watching the outside battle play out. Cautiously approaching, Kamaria could not keep from peering over their shoulders, looking on as the seven Space Force mobile suits fought their Cosmo Babylonian adversaries. No, ravaging their Cosmo Babylonian adversaries. Even the four Guncannons were making great headway, much more effectively than the Rose's own mobile suit forces could ever hope to have done. It was rather spectacular, especially from Kamaria's stark civilian standpoint.

However, that wasn't what drew the bulk of Kamaria's attention, not in the least. Sifting past the rest of the horde, her eyes fell upon the singular pure white mobile suit that was wading its way through the Babylonians virtually untouched. The pure white mobile suit with the stylized red 'A' on its left shoulder, shooting or occasionally slashing any Denan type that came within its reach, moving entirely unhindered amidst its own wrath.

"Amuro…" Kamaria found herself calling out softly, in a barely audible whisper, entirely unnoticed by the other spectators. All while, also unnoticed even to her, the first of what would be many tears silently fell from her right eye.

Another Gei and accompanying Zon came at him with their lances, with Amuro sniping the latter suit before it ever got close. The Gei however, moved so fast that Amuro was forced to evade its charge, after which it twisted around and fired off all three of its shoulder missiles at medium-range. Fortunately Amuro was used to that tactic by now – after all, it wasn't far from it the average Zaku pilot liked to do – and so shot down the projectiles with a short vulcan burst. After that, it was a simple task firing a beam shot through the Denan Gei's cockpit and destroying the Babby suit wholesale, in turn causing one more human presence to vanish from Amuro's Newtype comprehension.

Not that there wasn't still more of those to go around of course, right as Amuro felt the familiar lighting-like rush go through his mind. Right behind him, another Zon was lining up its shot lancer to nail him in the back, to which Amuro responded with a snap shot of his own. To the Babylonian pilot's credit however, the Zon was fast enough to raise its beam shield to deflect, after which it banked right to fire off a twin machine gun spray, causing Amuro to evade as well. Simultaneously two more Zons – the pilots of which very much recognized him as the White Devil – came in to support, adding their own lance mounted guns into the mix. Despite their coordinated fire however, Amuro evaded all of their attacks, not even having to raise his beam shield again. In turn, he picked off one of the Zons in mid-maneuver, striking the Babby suit through the middle as he had done many others up to the point.

Though obviously rattled by the death of their comrade, the other two Zons weren't about to let up on him; in fact, they pressed the offensive, drawing in close from different angles to try and corner him. Amuro would have none of it however, easily evading their bursts and corresponding lance charges, while tagging one of them in the back with his vulcans. He then moved to finish it then and there, but its partner moved in and deflected the shot, then counterfired in an attempt to force Amuro back further. Yet again Amuro was not about to cooperate, instead evading left and flanking both Zons, right before nailing his initial target through the right hip at last. It detonated while its comrade jetted away, the latter now more desperate than ever to keep the White Devil back. Unfortunately for him Amuro had even less issue dodging his now haphazard aim, right before blasting that mobile suit to kingdom come as well. One presence promptly vanished from Amuro's consciousness as a result.

This is taking forever, Amuro thought with some frustration as he switched out his rifle for his saber, right as even more enemy suits came charging in. He jetted at them, slashing them down, one after the other, with precise, singular strokes. Three of them fell this way before the rest abandoned their combined attempt at close quarters and chose to rain rapid beam fire on him, but once again Amuro easily dodged their attacks, still not raising his shield back up. From there, the white Gundam continued its offensive, moving upon one Zon or Gei, slashing it down, and then moving onto another almost systematically. All while the Babylonian pilots could only shudder in their terror, realizing the exact same as so many Zeon pilots before them. That none could stand before the White Devil and live to tell.

In the middle of his attacking another Zon, its Gei wingman attempted to flank him from the right. Amuro had no need to respond however, as another beam rifle shot struck that mobile suit from the back, obliterating it before it could even aim its lancer. From there, Unit Gamma reentered view, with Sayla warding off some of the surplus Babbys away. Additional Zons and Geis fell as a result, but it was pretty apparent to the Valkyrie of Riah that she and her six comrades were only accomplishing so much through it all. And again there was no telling when more enemies would arrive.

"Shrike Two to Four," Sayla called out to Lieutenant Commander Amada. With Commander Law presently engaged with that new Babylonian model, squadron command fell to the DCAG at that point. "We're not accomplishing anything picking them off like this."

"Agreed, we'll have to annihilate them completely," Shiro responded as he again shot down a Zon with his gatling cannons, with Kiki's Trooper supporting with its own rifle. Taking a glance toward his sensor readout, it wasn't long before Shiro came up with a strategy. "Shrikes Two and Three, you deal with the late arrivals. Five, Seven and Eight, we'll go after the initial set."

"Sounds good Four," Karen responded amidst another missile spray from her shoulder launchers. She couldn't help but smirk. If the Babbys hadn't expected what they were getting now, then they would most certainly shit their black and gold britches at what was coming. "Last one to sink a zammy buys."

After a round assured responses, the six mobile suits broke into their respective groups and flitted off toward their targets. And as they both closed in, Amuro, and Sayla with him, could already feel further panic set into the Babylonian ranks.

Dodging another one of his opponent's lance charges, Sleggar was quick to retaliate with his vulcans, firing a spray as his adversary sped away. Unfortunately despite the snap response he failed to hit the Cosmo Babylonian mobile suit, which simply put that much more power into its back thrusters to evade. In turn, it fired back with its lance mounted guns again, causing Sleggar to dodge as well, as well as respond with his beam rifle too, effectively keeping to the shooting fight between them as both blue and green suits effectively ran throughout the immediate space, blasting away.

"As said, that's quite the machine you got there Zerry," Sleggar called out as the enemy suit again maneuvered, watching that strange thruster assembly flex and shift slightly like a pair of pseudo-wings. He had heard Cosmo Babylonian mobile suits were even more mobility oriented than their Zeon counterparts – a fact he had since confirmed firsthand with the Denan Zon and Denan Gei – and it seemed like this Berga Dalas, or whatever the hell it had been name dropped it as through the fight, was the next step in that general direction. Too bad it only had a shot lancer for an offensive weapon, but that seemed to be enough for it to hold its own especially when combined with its sheer speed and agility. Not that it had been able to do much with against the Eagle of Arcturus of course, which Sleggar knew was aggravating "Zerry"-chan to no end. "Shame it's totally wasted on you. If only Iron Mask could see how badly you're using it."

"Yes yes, keep jesting peasant," Zerik snarled as he added more beam machine gun fire, yet coming no closer to hitting his opponent. As much as he hated to admit it even to himself, the Eagle of Arcturus really was as challenging as claimed, and his own mobile suit was indeed nothing to sneeze at. If anything it made the Ronah even more incensed with his boorish adversary, who very much had yet to learn his place. "It will only make your death sweeter, alongside the sight of your blood on my lance."

"With the way you're going? Good luck with that tomodachi," Sleggar retorted as he zigzagged around the machine gun bursts, again triggering his vulcans to keep his opponent on guard. Again he failed to hit the Berga Dalas very hard, especially when it raised its beam shield. Even so, that was enough of an opening for Sleggar to hits his own thrusters and circle around, nearly nailing it through the back with his rifle. "The Blue Giant gave me more of a challenge, in a Zaku no less! You'd be lucky to shine his oversized boots."

He then engaged his left gauntlet, daring to close in on the Dalas and strike at the center torso. The Babby suit banked away, causing the swipe to miss wide and in turn jabbing back with its lance. Sleggar dodged as well, withdrawing under another vulcan barrage.

"Insolent cur!" Zerik bellowed – stereotypically in Sleggar's opinion – as he again brandished his shot lancer and mounted a charge, only for Sleggar to snap dodge and get even closer to nailing the Dalas in its exposed back, only for it to maneuver away at the last second. The Federal ace fired two more shots that the Dalas still dodged, but if Sleggar didn't know any better it did so rather haphazardly.

That's right rich kid, keep dancing to the music, Sleggar thought bemusedly as the Dalas twisted around and returned fire, the blue Gundam itself moving back into evasion. In spite of his prior claim, Sleggar was very much having the time of his life pulling this particular Babby along; not only was the blueblood arrogant, but even more stupid than initially thought, to the point that it all supplanted whatever skills he might have had with his mobile suit. With those traits well in mind, it wouldn't be long before poor, poor Zerry did something incredibly stupid…

"Zamouth Ghan to Commander Zerik!" a sudden burst transmission sounded, which Unit Beta was more than able to pick up. "We have enemy mobile suits incoming! Requesting support!"

"Switch to a secure channel you idiot!" Zerik growled back in his own very open transmission.

"You can give up any time you know," Sleggar mildly offered.

"You know what you can do Feddie!?" the voice on the other end responded indignantly. "You can shove it up your…!"

The line abruptly cut into characteristic static. Right as the four Guncannons closed in on their targets.

It wasn't that long before the seven enemy ships took notice of the Guncannons' approach and unleashed the main guns and missiles to intercept. Just as it wasn't any harder for the four Shrikes to evade such fire as, with the Stormer, Hellfire and dual Troopers easily dodging the beams and projectiles as though they were being shot at by Zeek ships. Of course there still remained the Denans – much to the four Space Force pilots' irritation – which even then came after them with a vengeance, attempting to dissuade them from their progress. And just as before, the Federals would have none of it, blasting the enemy suits out of the way or otherwise forcing them back as they drew upon the Babby cruisers.

As he closed in, Shiro couldn't help but note the differences between the Cosmo Babylonian ships from their Zeek "allies". Somehow they seemed more akin to Earth warships, right down to the grey colors, though obviously the Babbys had a lighter shade of it. Still, that hardly mattered to him as he came upon the four Zamouth Jeth-class cruisers and the three Zamouth Giri-class battlecruisers. One of the latter ships already had its bridge reduced to flaming ruin; Shiro knew it wouldn't be long before the rest followed suit.

Now well within range, phalanx fire soon began to pour out from the enemy warships, but that also did little to prevent the Shrikes from drawing in. Kiki and Eledore soon returned fire with their shoulder guns, as did Karen with her missile launchers, though she had some difficulty getting her solid projectiles through the phalanx screen. Shiro, on the other hand, had to move further in as his Stormer was not oriented toward anti-ship combat like the other Guncannons. Fortunately it wasn't hard for him to do that, given that the Stormer was also faster and more maneuverable than the other Guncannons.

Selecting one of the Jeths, he put his mobile suit into a steep dive, neatly dodging the two main gun turrets and phalanx emplacements as he made his run. Only when he was close enough did he fire his own shoulder cannons, spraying beam fire across the hull and into the forward main cannon turret, blasting it apart with a concentrate stream. He then knocked out the second turret just as easily, right before adding his beam rifle into the carnage, blasting away phalanx emplacements and other parts of the Jeth.

Flames soon elicited from all across the cruiser, which for a moment appeared to turn about, possibly to draw closer to the other Babylonian ships for relief. Shiro, however, was not about to let it have that chance, and so zipped toward the stern and promptly blew off the portside Apollo Engine module, and then followed up with the starboard one. A few more beam rifle shots through the underbelly promptly finished off the rest of the ship, which exploded far more spectacularly than a mobile suit could hope to.

Who says this thing can't sink a ship? Shiro mused, recalling the claim that his anti-MS oriented machine was too undergunned to punch through warship armor. The fragmenting Jeth certainly showed that to be a myth, though admittedly it had taken him more effort to destroy than it would have for a Trooper. Case in point as he observed Kiki strafing another cruiser, blowing holes through its light grey hide more easily and efficiently than Shiro's gatling cannons had been able to. Through that however, another Denan team moved into hinder her, to which Shiro gunned his thrusters to support.

So concentrated were the two Zons and their Gei team lead focused on defending their ship from the attacking Trooper that they failed to register the much faster Stormer's approach, at least until Shiro was practically on top of them. And even after that, it took his obliterating one of the Zons before its two partners turned around, the second Zon inadvertently exposing itself to Kiki, who easily speared it through the back with her rifle. The Gei only lasted a little bit longer, brandishing its lance in an attempt to skewer Shiro, only for the DCAG to engage his beam shield and deflect the charge. A point blank gatling spray easily dispatched the enemy commander unit.

With those out of the way, Shiro moved into to join wingmate and subordinate in laying fire across the Babylonian cruiser. Within mere moments, in too gave into her resultant wounds and exploded vibrantly, with the two Federation suits continuing onto another of its sister ships. All while Karen and Eledore did much the same upon one of the larger Giris.

Babylonian Zamouth Giri-class battlecruiser Zamouth Ghan
System J-292

"Repeat, we need support!" the Zamouth Ghan's captain cried out helplessly as the two Guncannons continued to ravage his ship. Though his battlecruiser was more heavily armored and defended than the Jeths, that would only matter so much if the two Feddies continued unhindered. It helped even less that she had already lost the bulk of her armaments, including all four of her main guns. "Commander Zerik, where are-!"

He never got to finish his sentence as one of the Guncannons, the Hellfire, flitted up right in front of the bridge tower. Not even having enough time to scream, the captain could only watch in terror as a full barrage of missiles shot out from the fire support suit's shoulder pods, akin to a shower of angry meteors. An instant later, the Zamouth Ghan's bridge was wholly obliterated, and only a few more moments later, the rest of the Ghan followed as the other Guncannon Trooper fired its own shoulder guns into the battlecruiser's main reactor.

Babylonian Zamouth Giri-class battlecruiser Zamouth Gil
System J-292

"The Zamouth Ghan has been sunk!" the Zamouth Gil's tactical operator called out, not bothering to hide the dread in his voice. A dread that easily filled by the rest of the battlecruiser's bridge, up to and including her taskforce commander's, as they could only watch their comrades' decimation. Within but a few minutes' time, all seven ships were wholly destroyed, the fires of their collective destruction greatly apparent to Burgess Ronah's forces.

What…what kind of Feddies are these? Burgess couldn't help but think through the color draining from his face. As with the rest of Cosmo Babylonia, he too had heard the tales of the Ark Royal and her mobile suits – especially those three non-Guncannons – and like many within his family, he had dismissed such claims as utterly fanciful and grossly exaggerated. Only now, did he realize exactly what Garma Zabi, as well as Aiguille Delaz and Char Aznable – and even that idiot Zerik – had before him. And that, much too likely, he would pay for such presumption with his life.

"Enemy incoming!" the tac officer called out in warning again. If the destruction of his cousin's taskforce had caused the blood the freeze in his veins, then the magnified image of the two still unidentified suits launching at his own force at speeds that surpassed even Zerik's Berga Dalas easily made Burgess' heart to turn stone cold. Four Guncannons had all it took to sink seven Cosmo Armada ships. He could only imagine how much more effectively the two new models – both bearing the respective colors and standards of the White Devil and the Valkyrie of Riah – would devastate his own nine.

"Intercept!" Burgess commanded in alarm, as though his own mobile suits weren't already moving to do just that. Just as the Zamouth Gil's guns, and those of her support ships, began to fire.

"Heh," Sayla couldn't help but exclaim as she picked up on the terror emanating from the enemy fleet. Not that it really surprised her at that point, as she doubted the Cosmo Babylonians really knew what they would be facing when Iron Mask sent them out. Even so, they had chosen to face her, Amuro and the others all the same, and so would receive no mercy on her part, especially after all their comrades had already put them through. With that in mind, Sayla drove Unit Gamma in through the Zamouths' beam and missile fire, while several more Denan Zons and Denan Geis raced out to meet the two Gundams.

Despite their valiant efforts to defend the ships, the Babby suits weren't any more successful in dissuading her approach, and she had no issue picking three off at the onset with her rifle. A fourth actually got in close enough to try and strike her with its lance, but she easily obliterated its cockpit block with her gauntlet before continuing on. Between the Denans' machine gun bursts and the now oncoming phalanx fire, she and Amuro maneuvered even further, weaving through the rapid beam fire as they drew further in for the kill, more enemy suits falling through their advance. All the while the aforementioned panic Sayla picked up from the warships transitioned into sheer terror as she and Amuro at last reached them.

Moving over one such Zamouth Jeth, Sayla shifted through the AA and main gun fire, aiming straight for the cruiser's bridge tower. Landing atop of it with a clang that echoed through the bridge itself, she then fired a single shot straight down, effectively gutting the structure and anything that was directly below it, before touching off again. A few more shots to key areas obliterated the rest of the cruiser, after which she turned and launched herself over to her next target. Two or three more Zons attempted to hinder her, but she easily broke through these as well, not even slowing down.

Not far from her, Amuro simultaneously drew upon what he assumed to be the command ship. Though he wasn't sure if this particular Zamouth Giri was actually the taskforce flagship, the central figure he picked up aboard her – a man that couldn't be older than him with light brown hair and Commander tabs – seemed to be shouting orders that were being transmitted to the rest of the fleet, for whatever good that did. Whatever the case, that same figure suddenly gaped in terror as he watched the White Devil fly up straight in front of his bridge, his mind so overcome that it literally blanked of any conscious thought. A sentiment mirrored by the rest of the bridge crew, who found themselves being glared upon by the white Gundam's yellow camera eyes.

A single trigger pull was all that it took to extinguish them all from the galaxy at large.

With yet another bellowing war cry, Zerik laid even more beam machine gun fire after Unit Beta, only for the Gundam to slip and jet away as it had done since their fight had begun. At this time Sleggar wasn't even bothering with his beam shields; the Ronah tyke's fire had become so erratic that the Feddie was starting to wonder if his opponent was even bothering to aim. Unfortunately his reflexes – or at least the Berga Dalas' drive systems – remained in place however, as Sleggar fired back in turn only to watch the Dalas gun its back thruster assembly and dodge itself, and then repeating that maneuver with the follow up shot. On the other hand, it did re-employ its own shield on the third.

Deciding to take that opening for what it was, Sleggar jetted straight at the Babby machine, trading his rifle for his beam saber midflight. He had been avoiding close-range up to that point, since the Dalas would just as easily jet away before contact, but since gunfighting was having negligible effect Sleggar decided to kick things up a notch. As he expected Zerik dodged his swipe by flying back, to which Sleggar triggered his vulcans. The Dalas banked around this as well, in turn firing back with its machine guns, but Unit Beta circled about and evaded as well. The Babylonian suit then went full burn and made another lance charge, only for Sleggar to ascend upward while angling his saber to strike overhead, in a mirror of one of Sayla's maneuvers. Unfortunately the strike wasn't deep, "merely" cutting into the Dalas' right shoulder pauldron, but it was the most glaring wound Sleggar had struck to that point.

"Bastard!" Zerik growled as he looked over the damage. It wasn't bad – his right arm was still functional – but the fact was his formerly immaculate Berga Dalas had been struck by some Feddie commoner, as though the scum hadn't been infuriating enough.

More beam machine gun fire followed, but Sleggar easily dodged that as well. He was close now, the ace felt. The Ronah kid's rage was overtaking him with each passing moment, and his moves were getting sloppier as a result. It wouldn't be long before…

Again the Dalas charged with its lance posed to impale, and again Sleggar banked off, firing his vulcans as it passed. This time he struck the Babby in the left leg, blowing it off at the knee. Amidst the very audible cry of fury from its pilot, the green mobile suit momentarily spun in its flight, but Zerik managed to get it back under control in time. An opening that Sleggar moved to exploit by striking overhead again, only this time Zerik was fast enough to bring his shield about and deflect the stroke.

"You're nothing!" Zerik roared as he held the Gundam's blade back with his shield, trying to find some way to angle his lance for a point blank attack. Unfortunately for him, Sleggar was too close to do so. "Just some Earthnoid peasant!"

"I'm more than that munchkin," Sleggar responded back in the best domineering tone he could come up with, while still being mocking. "I'm the Eagle of Arcturus."

He then drove his suit further, so that Unit Beta's eyes glared directly into the Dalas' goggles, flaring yellow. "And you're just some little chick in my talons," he continued before smiling vindictively. "A little chick with a little weapon, and I'm not talking about that shot lancer!"

That did it, as Sleggar had hoped. Now completely overcome, Zerik forced the blue mobile suit away with a hard push, right before attempting to swing his lance about to skewer. In spite of the Dalas' speed however, the weapon was just too cumbersome at that range, and Unit Beta was more than able to duck under its thrust. From there, Sleggar brought his saber about and went to full burn, slashing straight at his opponent's exposed waistline.

Only in his final moments did Zerik Ronah realize his error, alongside the sheer apparentness of the oncoming beam blade. After that, there were only the divided halves of his mobile suit, the upper torso flinging out some distance before suddenly detonating, its Apollo Reactor destabilizing from the saber's excess energy. The lower half continued onto space unknown, like so many other fallen that day.

Grinning triumphantly at his handiwork, Sleggar withdrew his saber and turned Unit Beta about, jetting away.

Anaheim dockship La Vie en Rose
System J-292

"The last Babby suit has been destroyed," the tac officer at last reported with a very audible sigh of relief. "We won."

With that, the whole of the Rose's bridge seemed to sag, knowing that the danger was at last over. Even so, Hacksell remained resolute, as did Bright and Mirai near her.

"Recall the mobile suits and set course for the second operations point immediately," Hacksell commanded, knowing that there wouldn't much time before other Cosmo Babylonians showed up. To say nothing of other interested parties, including the Zeeks themselves. "Get us to maximum warp as soon as they're aboard."

Feeling Emary draw up to his side, Bright wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her comfortingly through the leftover tension. It had been a hard fight, as it usually was, but for the moment it was over again. Even so, both Noas could only wonder for just how long, especially when it seemed like the whole galaxy was trying to seek them out.

Retracting his helmet visor, Amuro at last felt the first vestiges of relief, as well as the cool air of his cockpit against his exposed skin. It was another battle, and another slog. Nowhere near as intense as Anges or Juno had been, but still a fight, in which survival and the survival of those he cared about had been on the line. The fact his enemy this time around was not at all difficult to overcome was the only point of solace to be had.

In that instance, Amuro watched as the ruined remains of a Zon floated by, its cracked goggle eye sensors visible to his main camera. Through his heavy breathing, Amuro couldn't help but wonder how many of those suits he himself destroyed that day; how many Cosmo Babylonians he had personally killed. He knew it shouldn't have bothered him – in fact, he really shouldn't have thought about it at all – but for some reason it struck him. So many of those machines and their pilots had gone against him, the White Devil, and so many had fallen to his wrath. And so many more, whether they be Babbys, Zeeks or whatever else, would fall to him still before the fighting was at last completely over.

With that thought, he brought his right hand into view and opened his palm, as though trying to see the flesh underneath his pilot suit's gauntlet. Up front he knew it was a standard human hand, just as whole body was physically human. Yet underneath that flesh, he couldn't help but wonder once more. Wonder if, in fact, there was something beyond…

"Shrike Three, we're withdrawing," Amuro suddenly heard Sayla's voice emanate over his comlink, his eyes looking up to see Unit Gamma's own looking toward him. "Follow me back."

Returning his hand back to the control stick, Amuro reflexively nodded. "Acknowledged."

With that, both Gundams jetted back toward the Ark Royal with the other five. Once again leaving the ruins of battle behind them.

Anaheim dockship La Vie en Rose
System J-292

No sooner than when the announcement was broadcast did the cheering begin. Throughout the Rose, various crewman hollered out as they realized they would not only survive, but that the enemy had been vanquished and victory had been achieved. Terminal after terminal and holographic projection after projection displayed the seven mobile suits returning in triumph. Seven mobile suits had been all that it had took to defeat and completely destroy not one, but two Cosmo Babylonian fleets. Seven mobile suits piloted by the very best Earth, and perhaps the whole of the galaxy, had to offer.

Yet through the cheering and shouts and hollers, she remained an anomaly. Tucked away into a corner of the deck, Kamaria also watched the nearest monitor, which happened to project the very object of her own interest, and apparent shame. Tearful gaze fixed upon the image of the white mobile suit with the stylized red 'A' on it shoulder, Kamaria trembled as she imagined its pilot within. The very man that had won them Juno and Anges, and now apparently J-292 with the other six. A man that she no longer recognized from the boy she once knew. The boy she once loved.

Shamed and horrified in ways that she never thought, nor wanted, to feel again, Kamaria Bailey, formerly Kamaria Ray, at last gave in, weeping silently and unnoticed in her one small space aboard the Rose. All while the rest of the ship celebrated the heroes' return around her, all completely ignorant of the truth that she knew and remembered all too well. The truth, the reality, behind the White Devil…