Technically a filler chapter... but even so... :)
Mars orbit
"Boss… we're fully prepped for launch.
"The Isaribi and the Hotarubi have the specialised thrusters built in, and likewise, the Gjallarhorn escort ship is getting ready for departure to the rendezvous point. We've got enough rations to last us two months, which is the estimated amount of time we'll be gone at most, and while we left behind most of the Shidens on Mars for security reasons, we'll still have enough on board for self defense purposes, and not to mention backup from Gjallarhorn's Grazes and the new units that Teiwaz loaned to us."
As she finished this report, Merribit Stapleton glanced up at Orga and smiled at him, to which the Tekkadan boss smiled back. It was rare for him to actually do that these days, and by all means, to see it was very much a treat. Currently, the two of them were within the bridge of the Isaribi, waiting for Gjallarhorn's signal to meet up at the rendezvous point, which was an area between Mars and Jupiter, one that was free from most prying eyes, and to kill some time, Itsuka huffed and glanced up at Stapleton.
"Thank you, Merribit. Real quick, remind me of how many units we have on board at the moment," requested Orga as he sat atop the Command chair of the Isaribi, smiling slyly at the older woman as he spoke. To this, Stapleton rolled her eyes, knowing that he was just messing with her, but to humor him, she simply smiled.
"We have 25 Shidens and just 15 Landman Rodis on board the Hotarubi, including Shino's Ryusei Go III. Alongside them are two of Teiwaz's Hekija. You do remember Naze requesting you bring them out for a test ride, yes?" stated Merribit, to which Orga snorted, with him remembering that 'threat' that Naze had shot at him when he loaned him two of their organisation's newest Mass Produced MS. Stapleton smiled a fair bit at this as she continued. "That aside, Akihiro's Gusion Rebake Full City is fully armed and docked in the Isaribi as well, alongside a few Shidens. I believe that he's raring to go alongside everyone else, boss."
"Heh, considering who we're trying to bring back from the dead, I can't blame em," smiled Orga as he nodded in thanks towards Merribit, who nodded right back as she held the file she was reading from under her arm. Thereafter, things remained rather silent between the two as they simply listened to the other Tekkadan members rapping away at the control panels, making sure that everything ran smoothly, though after some time, Stapleton spoke up once more.
"Boss, not to put a damper on things… but what if… what if Mikazuki is…" muttered Merribit, with her trailing off near the end as she spoke. To this, Orga simply held a hand up to stay her words, eliciting a blink from her as he cut her off firmly.
"I'm not going to entertain that idea, Merribit. Mikazuki, if anything, is both a fighter and a survivor. Even through a rage of dust, that guy will keep struggling until his dying breath," stated Orga, with him smiling fondly at his brother's conviction. That boy was the one who raised Tekkadan's flag to the height that it was now… and though he could never be too sure about it, Itsuka knew that he was not dead… he could feel that his friend was alive.
"Well, whatever you say, boss…"
"Boss! We're getting a transmission from the Gjallarhorn ship!" came the voice of a Tekkadan subordinate up front, with him turning towards Orga as he spoke. Merribit blinked a little as Orga nodded, motioning for them to patch the Gjallarhorn transmission in, and when they did, they found themselves greeting the youthful face of Liza Enza, a young officer serving under McGillis. The young, green haired chap bowed his head respectfully towards Orga in greeting, and thereafter, he spoke.
"Orga Itsuka, head of Tekkadan! I must say, it is an honor to be speaking directly to you!" greeted Liza enthusiastically as he smiled at the Tekkadan boss, who raised a brow at his words, though he simply nodded at this.
"Uh… yeah, likewise. You got something to say, kid?" inquired Orga, with him sounding somewhere between impatient and curious as he spoke. Liza seemed to acknowledge this, as he straightened himself out and stood at attention, with him trying to act professional, even if his lips seemed to be curling upwards with some amount of fanboyism.
"Ah! I apologise! I am here to report that all preparations on our side of things are coming to an end! You may proceed to the rendezvous point now! It is expected that we may launch within the next five hours!" stated Liza, with him holding a fist up to his chest with excitement. It was clear that the junior was thrilled to be participating not only in a mission with Tekkadan, but to also be the first to test out this new warp drive, and though some of the younger members of the crew shared in his enthusiasm as they smiled between one another, Orga simply nodded without much enthusiasm.
"Hm, thanks for the heads up, kid. We'll complete our preparations on our side of things and meet your fleet at the rendezvous point by then. We'll be in touch," said Orga, with him bidding the kid farewell all the while. Liza saluted Orga rigidly before he cut the communication link, and with that, Itsuka was left to lean back in his chair in exasperation… and at the same time, Merribit chuckled gently to herself.
"Looks like someone's got a fanboy~"
"Oh, shut it you."
"Due to the size of the Halfbeak-Class warship used to test the engine system, we were unable to load as many Mobile Suits as we had initially hoped for. As of now, we have 15 Graze units lined up within it and two Schwalbe Grazes on emergency standby."
Humming thoughtfully as Isurugi gave his report, McGillis walked down the Mobile Suit bay of the aforementioned Halfbeak-Class warship that Gjallarhorn had modified to be able to use the warp drive. The Graze units were outfitted for space use, though additional ground type parts were stored on board the warship in the event of them requiring to fight under gravity. The Schwalbe units were mostly there for insurance, and likewise… the third class of Mobile Suit present on the warship was also here as a sort of insurance as well.
"... Brigadier General, if I may… why have you requested the Helmwige Reincar to be moved onto the warship?" inquired Isurugi curiously, with him glancing over at McGillis as he spoke. In truth… McGillis had no real answer to this, as, if he were to be completely truthful, he had asked for the Valkyrie Frame to be moved here on a whim.
Formerly known as the Grimgerde, the Helmwige Reincar was grafted from the inner frame of the former, and following its reincarnation, the unit has been kept under lock and key under the Fareed family's name. There was never any real reason for McGillis to make use of it, after all, as the refitted mobile weapon didn't even fit his combat style, but even so… the current head of the Fareed family was aware of how, despite his preference for all-rounder combat, Isurugi had a preference for melee combat, and as such…
"Due to my current position as the head of the Fareed family, it would be… unbecoming of me to pilot a Mobile Suit as rustic as this. I wish to entrust it to you, Isurugi Camice," stated McGillis with a smile, eliciting a blink of surprise from Isurugi as he spoke. Even so, his surprise left as soon as it came as he nodded in acknowledgement, though Fareed was aware of just how thrilled his subordinate really was as he fidgeted a little more than usual whilst standing. "Use it well."
"Understood, Brigadier General," responded Isurugi, with him saluting his superior as he bowed his head and left the Mobile Suit hanger. Camice watched as he left the area, allowing him to observe the Helmwige Reincar in silence all the while, and not long after, he sighed and looked away from it with apprehension. It was a great honor, to be able to pilot the Valkyrie Frame that was once used by his superior… but even so, the soldier couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous at the prospect as he was worried that he'd fall short of McGillis' expectations.
He hoped that this operation succeeded, as its success would no doubt allow his superior's dreams to be fulfilled. Creating such a revolutionary piece of tech was no small feat, and if the test run succeeded, mass production could begin, and with it, McGillis would no doubt be seen as the man behind it all, giving him an easy rise to power, and to achieve this goal, Isurugi would have to ensure that the operation went off without a hitch.
Little did he know… a hitch was just around the corner, waiting to lash out at not just him, but everyone involved in this operation.
Several hours later
"I… never thought we'd be working with Gjallarhorn, one way or another."
Those were the words uttered by Hush Middy as he, alongside Dane and Zack, assisted Yukinojo in moving some parts into storage. As they did so, they passed one of the many windows of the Hotarubi, one that overlooked the Gjallarhorn Halfbeak Class Warship that cruised alongside them. A few Graze escorts could be seen cruising alongside it, 120mm Rifles held at ease, with one Graze in particular boosting close enough to look at the Tekkadan recruits up close, causing them to tense up on instinct.
Not far from the three newbloods were Takaki Uno and Aston Atland, with the former waving casually at the Graze that came close to them. In response to this, the Graze offered the blonde a thumbs up before boosting back towards the Halfbeak Warship, prompting Takaki to snicker as he turned towards the newbloods.
"Though we were enemies five years ago, in more recent times, Tekkadan and Gjallarhorn have never come to blows, not severely at least. It's not exactly good business, to keep a potential customer at arm's length over a conflict that happened half a decade ago," stated Takaki with a smile, with Aston nodding in agreement as he spoke, and at that, Hush simply snorted while Dane hummed thoughtfully.
"It still is surprising, though. The records of the Edmonton battle stated that we were at each other's throats. Knowing that we've worked things out with them this well, even after all this time, still feels weird," admitted Dane, eliciting a smile from Takaki while Aston simply huffed.
"Time changes things, Dane. You'd be surprised at what it can do to even the coldest of people," stated Aston wistfully, eliciting a knowing grin from Takaki as he finished. Atland, realizing that he might have said too much, blushed a tiny bit as Dane, who was aware of what the scarred boy was talking about, offered him a nod of understanding before turning back to his duties, though as for Zack, he huffed and leaned back casually.
"Do you think that the… erm… Mikazuki, right? Do you think he'll be any different when we find him?" inquired Zack curiously, eliciting a hum from Dane, who was genuinely considering that question. Aston, who had minimal interactions with Mikazuki, stayed silent, while Takaki, who was a bit of a fan of his, smiled and got ready to respond, though Hush beat him to it.
"If we find him. He's been gone for half a decade, so he's likely dead. At best, we'll probably just find his Gundam, or whatever's left of it, anyways," grumbled Hush as he left the area with a box of scraps in his arms. Takaki grimaced at his words, even if he wondered if he was speaking the truth, though he calmed himself in record time before shaking his head in disappointment.
"Mikazuki isn't the type of person to change much, honestly. If… when we find him, I bet he'll be the same Mika we knew five years ago," stated Takaki with a smile, to which Dane nodded. As with most of the newcomers, Dane, Zack and Hush only knew the Devil of Tekkadan by reputation and word of mouth only, and as such, they weren't able to withness his strength firsthand. Zack found Mikazuki to be cool, so to speak, but he didn't really think too much about him outside of that, as in his opinion, the past should be left where it was, untouched and unbothered.
Hush, on the other hand, thought very little of Mikazuki. While he partook in most of the important skirmishes of Tekkadan's history, the fact that he didn't survive their most important battle cemented the former ace as nothing more than a failure in Middy's eyes. Akihiro Atland and Norba Shino survived the founding days of Tekkadan's history, making them survivors. Mikazuki did not, and to him, the 'Devil' mattered almost as much as the spacedust around the Warships.
Dane, however, did find some reverence in Mikazuki's name. Unlike Hush, he saw the former ace as one of the foundational pillars of Tekkadan, someone that, despite being gone, had contributed so much to the organisation, so much so that, had he not existed whatsoever, Tekkadan itself wouldn't have existed either. Augus was the very reason as to why they were currently here, the reason behind why they weren't starving on the streets of Chryse, and to that, he would be forever be grateful to the Devil.
"We will find him, Takaki. I am confident that we will," assured Dane with a firm nod, to which Takaki grinned. He liked this guy!
"As am I, Dane. As am I."
"With the data retrieved from the initial tests, we can confirm that there will be some time displacement during the launch. We cannot confirm how long time will be displaced, but the engineers suspect that it could be anywhere between five hours and two weeks."
"Eh… in English, please?"
"... when we arrive at our destination, it is possible that anywhere between five hours and two weeks will have passed."
"Huh. Thanks."
Nodding in acknowledgement as Orga thanked him, Isurugi frowned as he spoke to the Tekkadan boss through the screen of the warship. Currently, the two parties for the operation were making some final preparations to their respective flagships, with the two heads discussing trivial matters to pass the time.
"Boss. Just popping in to inform you that we've fueled up your Shiden. If you need to sortie, or want to, anyways, it'll be ready for action," came a voice from behind Orga, prompting him to glance back to see Derma Atland staring at him with a notepad in his hands. It felt odd, seeing Derma, of all people, give him this report, though he kept that thought to himself as he smiled and nodded.
"Ah, thanks Derma. I'll head down and check on it later," thanked Orga as he offered the younger boy a quick two fingered salute, to which the guy smiled and nodded before retreating back to the hanger, prompting Itsuka to turn back towards Isurugi, who watched Derma walk off with a neutral look on his face.
"A Shiden of your own… do you intend on fighting as well, Orga Itsuka?" inquired Isurugi, intrigued by what he had just heard as he spoke. To this, Orga simply smiled as he intertwined his fingers and crossed one of his legs over the other, twin gestures that gave him a somewhat diplomatic, if a little sassy, appearance as he responded.
"Of course I do. As the boss of Tekkadan, if things go to Hell, it's my job to pull everyone back from it," stated Orga matter-of-factly, to which Isurugi nodded. For a moment, Itsuka wondered if he was about to say something pompous, like as the boss, your life matters more than your underlings or some shit, but to his surprise, the Gjallarhorn soldier simply smiled and nodded, seeming to approve of this all the while.
"Very commendable, Orga Itsuka. Within Gjallarhorn, many would prefer to sit back and send our soldiers out to die, and as soon as the last man is down, the higher ups will retreat to fight another day. It is a heartless strategy that inspires nothing of substance… so I must admit, to hear of a nobler, if more headstrong, mentality like yours… it is a breath of fresh air," stated Isurugi, with him smiling a tiny bit as he complemented Orga's go down with the ship mindset. It was reckless, sure, but to have a leader who was willing to put himself in danger for the sake of his men rather than watch at the back was, as he had said, a breath of fresh air.
"Huh… well, that's unexpected. I was expecting you to say the complete opposite of all that," admitted Orga, with him chuckling slightly as he said that. Huh… maybe this guy wasn't so bad, though the boss, and as he thought this, Isurugi nodded, understanding where Itsuka was coming from as he did so, though before he could say anything else, one of the bridge controllers, namely the one managing communications, turned and said something rather sudden.
"Boss! Not to ruin the moment, but we got an urgent transmission from the Hotarubi!" alerted the young man managing the comm-links, to which Orga raised a brow.
"Huh… patch Eugene in, then," stated Orga, to which the young man nodded and did as such. As this happened, the screen that Isurugi was being displayed on minimised itself and moved towards the upper right corner of the screen, which was now displaying a connecting symbol as the Isaribi received the transmission from its fellow warship.
And when the transmission came though…
"ORGA! WE'VE GOT A SITUATION ON OUR HANDS!"
Several moments prior, Hotarubi
Sighing a little as he reclined himself in the commander's seat, Eugene huffed as he waited for their moment to depart.
Things were going rather smoothly, all things considered, though how couldn't it not be? Them choosing the area between Mars and Jupiter to set as the rendezvous and deployment zone was very much deliberate, after all. The area between Mars and Jupiter was mostly barren, with very few choosing to navigate the empty space for one reason or another. This allowed the operation to take place in secrecy, something that McGillis had wished for as he wanted this technology to be kept under wraps until further notice.
Moreover, the area where the operation was taking place overlapped with Teiwaz's trading routes, making it highly unlikely that they would be set upon by Space Pirates. With the approval of McMurdo Barriston, the head of Teiwaz, the trading routes were closed off temporarily to allow for further secrecy regarding the operation, with Gjallarhorn paying a hefty sum of cash for this to happen. McMurdo was no doubt a little miffed at this, but the amount of green he procured from the deal more than made up for it.
"Oi, Eugene, quit slacking off and keep at attention, dangit!"
"Geh! Can it, Lafter! We're going to be going through some sorta prototype tech thingy in a few hours, and I don't know if any of us are gonna make it through this, so just let me relax till then, alright?"
Pouting a little at his response, Lafter Frankland, a beautiful young, blonde woman wearing a somewhat immodest pink shirt with a T pattern on her left breast beneath a white open jacket and a pair of short blue pants, simply huffed as she stood upright and looked away, seeming mildly annoyed as she did so. Eugene, however, cared little for her pouting (that was Akihiro's job, not his) as he simply glared at her in annoyance, refusing to back down all the while.
Behind her, Azee Gerumin, an equally beautiful young woman with (very) light blue hair wearing a pink, white and dull yellow mechanic outfit, simply sighed as she shook her head in bemusement, finding the whole ordeal to be just a bit entertaining as she smiled a fair bit, though she said nothing on the matter as a transmission came in from a seemingly unknown sender, though after patching it into the system, Eugene smiled at what popped up on screen.
"Good luck. Signed, RG-M."
"RG-M? Who's that, anyways?" inquired Lafter, with her leaning against the commander seat as she spoke. To this, Eugene simply smiled as he answered her.
"Argi Mirage, ace pilot of Tanto Tempo," stated Eugene helpfully, eliciting a wince from Lafter as Azee perked up at the name.
"Tanto Tempo? Aren't they a rival business?" inquired Azee, to which Eugene chuckled.
"Rivals, but not enemies! We met the young Ace and the current head of the organization a few years back, and we established good relations with them. They're nothing to scoff at, and as repayment for us backing them up a few years ago, they're assisting us in defending the Mars and Arbrau Bases until we return," explained Eugene, with him grinning happily as he recalled this. Lafter and Azee seemed surprised that they were kept out of the loop in regards to this, though they didn't think much on the situation as Seven Stark chuckled and dismissed the transmission. "But either way, no one's gonna be getting close to either of our bases, not when they're around."
"Five bucks says you're wrong," shot Lafter cheekily, to which Eugene grinned.
"You're o-"
"E-Eugene!"
Before the deal could be sealed, however, one of the Tekkadan crewmates on the bridge suddenly piped up, with him turning towards Eugene urgently as he did so. Sensing the urgency in his voice and body language, the Deputy Boss waved Lafter off for now and turned his full attention towards the guy.
"What's wrong? Fuel line break? Mobile Suit's damaged?" inquired Eugene, only for the young man to gulp and respond.
"N-No, sir… we have a read on some inbound Warships… and I don't think they're friendlies!"
Widening his eyes at this, Eugene was quick to grimace and lean back on his command chair, where he plugged his Alaya-Vijnana system in to interface with the Warship. Once this was done, he turned towards the young man that alerted him of this and spoke. "Patch it into the display screen, now!"
"Roger!"
Hastily, the young man forwarded the display to the bridge's main screen, giving everyone present a good view of what was coming at them. Eugene himself winced when he saw that there were three warships headed towards their fleet, with them being able to detect them as soon as they did because of the Hotarubi's superior radar system.
"Kh! They've been using low powered thrust this whole time to remain mostly undetected… patch me in to the Isaribi, now!" proclaimed Eugene, with him motioning to the communication head of the warship as he spoke. "Sound the alarms! Code red, get all Mobile Suit pilots changed and geared up! I want at least ten units out there within the next five minutes!"
"I'll go on ahead. Azee, you with me?" stated Lafter, with her glancing at the bluenette as she spoke. To this, Gerumin simply nodded.
"Always, Lafter. Let's move!" responded Azee almost immediately as she and Lafter moved to change into their pilot outfits, and at that, Eugene grimaced, with him feeling no small amount of annoyance at the fact that his downtime had been interrupted. But even so, he supposed that some action would be nice to pass the time.
And before long, the transmission was received by Orga…
Present time, Gjallarhorn Halfbeak Class Warship
"I see. It seems as though information regarding the operation has been leaked out into the public. This in itself is a problem all on its own… but the bigger question is how this happened."
Frowning as he said that, Isurugi fought the urge to grimace as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Eugene Seven Stark had just informed them of the encroaching warships, and much to his chagrin, his men were able to identify them as a rather notorious group of Space Pirates known as the Dawn Horizon Corps. This didn't bode too well with anyone present, though Isurugi said nothing of it as he turned his attention back to the screen before him to glance up at Orga, Eugene and several other Tekkadan members in the background, including one Kudelia Aina Bernstein, who was aboard the Hotarubi.
"Of all the people it had to reach, it had to be the DHC…" groaned Orga, clearly frustrated at this as he acknowledged how there was a very clear rivalry between Tekkadan and the DHC. As a relatively small yet rapidly expanding organisation, Tekkadan was very much a threat to the Corps thanks to their powerful backers, and as such, they had made numerous attempts at snuffing the younger organisation out in the past, with the most recent attempt being an attack on a Half-Metal mine, where they attempted to strike down Orga whilst he was visiting the area.
Their attempts had been… unsuccessful, to say the least, but even so, they had made it a point to try and take Tekkadan out of the equation for months now, and it seemed as though they were planning for a full scale attack on them with the added element of surprise.
"We're deploying a few Mobile Suits to hold the line, but we don't know how many they've got on their side," stated Eugene, with him frowning as he acknowledged how, at best, they had 63 Mobile Suits stored in all three Warships, certainly not enough to fight a full scale battle. "Boss, I'd say it's best if we veer back around and evacuate the area. Gjallarhorn's got some warships back there, don't they? If we can reach em, there's no way those punks will dare attack us."
"That's a good idea, but it'll take too long for us to veer around. If we do that, it's likely that they'll shoot us from behind, and if they take out our engines, we'll be sitting ducks," stated Orga darkly, eliciting a grimace from Eugene as he punched the control chair's armrest in anger. Isurugi found himself impressed by Itsuka's deduction, though he didn't comment on it as he turned towards his side of the screen and spoke.
"What would you have us do, Orga Itsuka?" inquired Isurugi, with him crossing his arms as he spoke. Without McGillis present, Camice felt a little less tense as he allowed himself to emote a tiny bit more than he usually would, and in response to his words, and his gesture, Itsuka raised a brow in surprise.
"You're not calling the shots?" asked Orga for clarification, to which Isurugi shook his head.
"I, alongside most of the soldiers present on this warship, were trained to handle organised threats. Space Pirates are not our forte, so it would be best if you took command of this battlefield, Orga Itsuka," stated Isurugi calmly, to which Orga, despite his initial surprise, huffed and nodded.
"Fair enough. Alright, here's the game plan…"
Hotarubi
"All hands to battle stations!"
"Quickly! Get that Shiden fueled up, NOW!"
"Takaki, here! We need that attached to the Rodi, ASAP!"
"Aston! Be careful out there!"
"Dante, Derma, Chad, your Landmen are ready for launch!"
"Happy hunting out there, guys!"
To say that the Hotarubi's MS hangers were in chaos would be an understatement, as multiple Tekkadan members rushed about, attempting to get their units out in an orderly fashion. Spearheading the deployment process was Nadi Yukinojo Kassapa, who still remained as the head engineer of Tekkadan even now, and he wasted no time in issuing the orders to the various pilots and technicians on site.
The first to launch were the Shidens, spearheaded by Norba Shino within his Ryusei Go III. The third Ryusei's magenta paint job stuck out like a sore thumb in space, though that was probably intentional as he led a squadron of three other Shidens onwards, hoping that the enemy would target him rather than his squadmates. Up next were a platoon of Landman Rodis, led by Dante Mongro. Chad Chadan, Derma Atland and Aston Atland followed him onwards into the fray, with all of their units wielding 90mm Rifles at the ready.
"Hush! On the double! We need that Shiden refueled, now! Dane! Head to hanger 1B and tell the guys working on the Hekija to speed things up! And Atra, I don't mean to be rude but it would be best if you got inside, posthaste!"
"S-Sorry, Nadi!"
Blinking a little as the Old Man said this, a few crewmembers turned to face the aforementioned pink haired girl, with them watching as she floated off into the interior of the Hotarubi with practised ease. Hush scoffed to himself as he watched her make her leave, though shortly thereafter, he turned back towards the Shiden he was maintaining and continued to fuel it.
'If only I could be the one piloting this…' thought Hush with a grimace, though he dismissed those thoughts as he pushed himself away from the Shiden when he saw a Tekkadan pilot jumping in, and moments later, the unit boosted out of the hanger and into combat, leaving him in the dust all the while.
Floating through the interior of the Hotarubi, Atra only came to a stop once she accidentally bumped into Kudelia Aina Bernstein, who had been headed in her direction moments prior. Gasping as the taller young lady bumped into her, Mixta was sent soaring backwards thanks to the lack of gravity, though moments later, Kudelia was able to grab her ankle and restabalise her.
"T-Thank you, Kudelia!" thanked Atra with a bow of her head, eliciting a nod from Kudelia before both she and the pink haired girl moved towards the closest window. From there, the duo frowned as they saw the enemy warships closing in on them, a sight that made their hearts clench at the thought of losing more lives in the foreseeable future.
"Such mindless conflict… I wish that there was a way for us to resolve this peacefully… but I fear that even my words will be unable to reach the hearts of these men," muttered Kudelia sadly as she gripped the railing of the warship tightly, though her tension was slightly eased when she felt Atra place her hand atop her own, prompting her to turn towards her with worried eyes.
"Things will be fine, Kudelia… I know they will," stated Atra as she smiled sweetly up at the taller blonde. To this, Bernstein slackened her shoulders and smiled back, seeming to not fully believe her, but still more than willing to hope, as she held Mixta's hand in her own. "We still have a lot of things to do… so we can't die now. And… a-and we also have someone to see too, don't we?"
And to that, both young women felt their cheeks heat up at that thought, with the two recalling a conversation they had just a few days prior… though reminiscing would have to wait till a later date, as the two had to focus on more pressing matters for the time being.
"Alright, listen up, here's the plan! Isurugi, the Gjallarhorn guy, has signaled the fleet that we met up with at the rendezvous point. They're coming to back us up, though it'll take a while. He estimates that we'll need to wait about twenty minutes at worst before they get into combat range. Until then, we'll hold the line and keep those punks at bay. Shino, Akihiro, I'm counting on the two of you to spearhead our defenses. The rest of you, I'm counting on you guys to keep our warships safe. Ours and that Gjallarhorn warship. You guys got that?"
"YES SIR!"
"Alright! Happy hunting, all of you!"
Grimacing as he recalled the orders issued to him and the rest of the MS crew, Akihiro sighed as he sat within the cockpit of the Gusion Rebake Full City, patiently waiting for his time to launch. Thanks to the unit's complexity, it required additional work before it could be launched, though considering how they had a few seconds to spare, the current Ace Pilot reckoned that he could wait.
'Of all the times to get attacked… why now…?' grumbled Akihiro mentally as he lowered his head in annoyance. They were supposed to be testing some experimental tech, not be assaulted by enemy Mobile Suits… but he supposed that variety was the spice of life, and for as much of an annoyance as this whole ordeal really was, it would probably keep boredom away, if only for a few minutes.
"Sorry about the wait, Akihiro!" came a technician's voice from over the comm-links, prompting Akihiro to glance in the direction of the voice and raise a brow. "The Gusion is ready for launch! We're putting the Electromagnetic Catapult on standby, so it's ready to go whenever you are!"
"Alright. Akihiro Atland, Gusion Rebake Full City, launching!" yelled Akihiro as the Electromagnetic Catapult flung his unit out of the launch bay. The G-Forces acting against his body did rattle him up a little, but he was used to this by now, and he withstood the launch pressure as he grabbed the arm controllers tightly.
The Full City was armed with four 120mm Long Rifles in total, all of which were held in both its main and subarms. The Alaya-Vijnana system allowed Akihiro to aim and fire simultaneously with all four of his Rifles, making him excellent at area denial.
"Akihiro!" came Shino's voice from over the comm-links, eliciting a huff from the aforementioned pilot as he glanced his unit's collapsed head towards the source, the Ryusei Go III, and watched as it boosted towards him. Shino's unit was certainly prioritizing speed and agility over defense, as it didn't possess the Shield used by the average Shiden, with him trading it out for extra verniers mounted on its shoulders, though considering how it had the Alaya-Vijnana system installed into it, this wasn't much of a surprise. "Ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum?"
"Uh… yeah. I think I am?" responded Akihiro, confused as he and Shino boosted their respective units further out from the warships. They were tasked with spearheading their defense, and as such, they would have to head in deep and catch their opponent's attention.
"Good! We'll need to be if we wanna put em down! Hey, you wanna bet on who can destroy more enemy Mobile Suits?" asked Shino, with his smile evident via the audio. Akihiro rolled his eyes at this.
"No, I'd rather just… focus…"
Atland's voice ended up trailing off, however, when he saw that their opposition had done something unexpected. Noticing his silence, Shino glanced over at the enemy warships as well, only to widen his eyes at what they saw.
There were initially three Warships on the Dawn Horizon Corps' end of the field, but after one of the three warships veered towards the left, it was revealed that it had been towing another warship behind it! The same applied to the other two warships, with the one in the middle, the DHC flagship, towing two warships behind it as it closed in on the Tekkadan-Gjallarhorn convoy. Upon being noticed, the towlines attached to the four extra warships detached themselves, allowing said warships to float aimlessly for a while before they came online, much to the two aces' chagrin.
"... shit just got a whole lot more complicated."
"You can say that again."
"Shit just got a whole lot more complicated."
"Kh! Those bastards pulled a trick out of our book, huh?!"
Grimacing as he said this, Eugene slammed the base of his fist against the armrest of his seat as he cursed the DHC for their planning, and as he did so, both Isurugi and Orga frowned deeply as they both acknowledged this as well.
"Boss, what's the play?!" demanded a member of bridge control as they glanced back at their boss on-screen, to which Itsuka grimaced.
"Kh… with the numbers we have now, we'll be overruned in an instant," stated Orga, with him feeling the stress of the situation catch up to him as the seconds ticked on. Isurugi found himself grimacing as he too felt the tension fill his body, though he kept his composure as he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Perhaps a retreat is in order? If we act quickly, we could escape their effective combat range with minimal casualties," suggested Isurugi, to which the Tekkadan boss frowned. He did seem to be considering it, but even so… after a few moments of thought, his eyes lit up thoughtfully as an idea came to mind.
"Maybe, but there would still be casualties… Isurugi, how long would it take to activate the engines?" asked Orga, with his question catching Camice off guard as he spoke, and at that, the Gjallarhorn soldier spoke uncertainly.
"Under normal conditions, it would take thirty minutes for a full start-up. However, should we rush it, we can bring it down to ten minutes, albeit with a higher risk of problems occurring such as time displacement and potential failure," responded Isurugi, with him seemingly seeing where this conversation was going as he spoke. A few weeks prior, McGillis had sent a Gjallarhorn technician in to speak to select members of Tekkadan about the warp drives, and as such, quite a few of them knew how to activate it. Activation wasn't meant to commence until about two hours before departure, though things, obviously, didn't go according to plan.
"Right… and we need to get the warships up to a specific speed in order to get the engines to work properly, yes?" continued Orga, with Eugene seemingly understanding what his boss was getting at as he winced at the thought, and likewise, Isurugi seemed to be understanding as well as he responded carefully.
"The warships would need to be moving at atmospheric escape speed before the warp drives can be properly activated. That would be 11.2 kilometers per second, and considering how close the Dawn Horizon Corps fleet is to us, we do not have the room to reach such speeds without getting in range of their warship cannons," stated Isurugi, eliciting a grin from Orga as he spoke. Isurugi felt a shiver go up his spine at the sight of this, though Eugene, on the other hand, felt somewhat excited as he cracked his knuckles at what was to come.
"I see… Eugene!" proclaimed Orga, with him grinning as he spoke. In response to this, the aforementioned ginger nodded, prompting him to continue. "How many Nano Mirror Chaff Missiles do we have?"
"Enough to do what I think you want us to do, boss!" answered Eugene, with him grinning like a madman as he answered. Orga mirrored his smile as he nodded in acknowledgement, and at that, he turned his attention towards Isurugi once more.
"Good, and Isurugi?"
"Yes, Orga Itsuka…?"
"How do you and your crew feel about being towed by another warship at atmospheric escape speeds?"
And to that, Isurugi Camice could only frown as he realized what these Space Rats were about to do.
"Eyes open! I can see the first wave headed in!"
Sure enough, right as Akihiro had said that, the first few Mobile Suits on the enemy side could be seen boosting in. With the high powered scanners of the Gusion's aiming mode, Atland was able to identify the inbound hostiles as a swarm of UGY-R35s, Garm Rodis, all of which were boosting towards them at high speeds. Without even waiting for a response, the Commander of Tekkadan's Muscle Unit began pelting the inbound hostiles with blasts from his 120mm Long Rifles, with each shot being directed with the aid of the Alaya-Vijnana system.
In an instant, seven Garm Rodis were shot down, with each taking two to three precise shots to take out of commission, though the remaining units that spearheaded the Dawn Horizon Corps charge pushed onwards towards Akihiro, who grimaced as he continued to take aim. Before he could fire, however, Shino's Ryusei Team backed him up, with his Ryusei Go III heading in and blasting the opposition with hundreds of 130mm rounds.
Two of the remaining Garm Rodis were brought down by the other members of the Ryusei Squadron, who were able to overwhelm them with their number advantage, and as for the last, Shino was able to get in close and strike it with its left, gauntleted arm. Impacting the cockpit, the Ryusei Go struck it with such force that it caved the cockpit inwards with minimal issue, either knocking out or outright killing the pilot on impact.
"That's one wave down, but we don't know how many more will be here! Regroup and reengage!" ordered Shino as he kicked the deactivated Garm Rodi away from his unit and boosted backwards. Akihiro couldn't help but grin at this, with him acknowledging how Norba's experience as Commander of the Ryusei Team had matured him when on the battlefield. He was certainly still a goofball at heart, but when push came to shove, he knew when to drop the act and fight for both himself and his allies.
"Shino! We've got incoming units!" proclaimed another member of the Ryusei Team, pointing towards the aforementioned squadron as this happened. Turning towards where his teammate was pointing at, the Tekkadan Mobile Suits took notice of the inbound Garm Rodis that were approaching their position, with there being about three of them for one of their own. Akihiro grimaced a little at this as he got ready to take point to blast them with a sustained barrage, though before he could do so, a volley of 120mm Rifle blasts came raining down onto their opponents, forcing them to scatter all the while.
"What the-" began Akihiro, confused at first, though before long, he, alongside the other units present, turned his unit's head towards the source of the blasts, and he promptly widened his eyes when he saw that it came from several Grazes that were boosting in to assist them.
"Gjallarhorn are here to back us up!" came the voice of Ride Mass via the Full City's comm-links, making Akihiro realize that he was amidst the Gjallarhorn reinforcements that had boosted in to assist. Coming to a halt between the Gusion and the Ryusei Team alongside a Graze or two, Ride's Shiden turned towards the Gundam and nodded at it stoically. "We'll hold the line together, Akihiro!"
"Appreciated, but even so…" muttered Akihiro, with him not liking the prospect of Ride Mass being put in as much danger as he would be when fighting on the front lines, though before he could point that out, a large frequency transmission came from the Isaribi, prompting him to focus on it instead. "Boss!"
"Everyone! There's been a change in plans! I want all of you to hold the line for the next ten-to-fifteen minutes! When I give the order, I want all of you to return to either the Isaribi or the Hotarubi, ASAP!" proclaimed Orga over the comm-links, and as soon as his command was given, the Tekkadan members found themselves briefly confused, not that it really mattered as they refocused on the fight at hand.
The Gjallarhorn soldiers had also received a similar message from Isurugi as well, with the soldiers being told the exact same thing, just in a more dignified manner. Upon acknowledging this request, the Graze units pulled back a little whilst providing the Tekkadan units with some cover fire, and all the while, a single Graze unit boosted up towards the Gusion and opened a communication line with it.
"Pilot! We have been given new orders! I presume that your boss has given them to you as well?" inquired the soldier, to which Akihiro grunted, something that the soldier took as an affirmation. "Good! We'll work with you to keep the opposition at bay!"
"Appreciated," was all Akihiro could say at that point as he turned back towards the battlefield and rained Hell down onto the Garm Rodis.
Further back
Although Shino and Akihiro, alongside their respective teams and the Gjallarhorn reinforcements, were able to hold back a majority of the enemy units, several of them were able to slip by them without too much hassle. They were only able to do so much, after all, and with their first wave of defenses breached, it was up to the second wave to hold them at bay.
"DOOOORAH!"
With that battlecry, Chad Chadan, a dark skinned young man and former Human Debris, boosted his Landman Rodi, a round but deceptively agile Mobile Suit painted off-white and yellow, into the body of an inbound Garm, tackling it back before it could even swing its Booster Hammer at him. Holding onto it with one of its manipulators, the Landman grabbed onto its Hammer Chopper and slashed it into the abdomen of the Garm before it could retaliate, and, thanks to the rocket booster mounted on its back, the weapon was able to slash into the Garm's relatively thick armour with minimal issue.
With that grunt dealt with, Chad had his unit kick the defeated Rodi into another enemy unit that was attempting to strike him whilst he was distracted. On impact, the Garm Rodi was sent backwards as its destroyed ally slammed into it, and not a moment later, a Shiden, a new Mobile Suit made by Teiwaz sporting a visor and armed with a Partizan, stabbed into the back of the Garm Rodi with the sharp end of its weapon, impaling both it and its destroyed comrade with relative ease.
"Thanks for the assist!" thanked Chad before both he and the Shiden turned their attention towards several more inbound units. Making use of their 90mm Submachine Gun and 130mm Rifle, both Landman Rodi and Shiden began blasting their opposition with their respective weapons. Two were shot down before one of their enemies got a good hit in, blasting the Shiden's gun-wielding arm off and forcing it to brandish its Partizan, much to Chad's horror, though before the Garm Rodis could move into melee range, support came in the form of several units moving in to back them up.
"The cavalry has arrived!" announced the ever enthusiastic Dante Mogro, a young man with swept back ginger hair who, like Chad, was once a Human Debris. As he had stated, Dante charged into the fray, pelting the Garm Rodis with his Landman's 90mm SMG shots, and with him were another Landman Rodi and a Hekija, a yellow, white and green Prototype Mobile Suit developed by Teiwaz. It assisted Dante in pushing back the Garms with its 110mm Bayonet Rifle, and as soon as it was within range, it made use of the blade on the barrel of its gun to slash at a damaged Garm Rodi, forcing it to use its shoulder shield to defend itself.
Whilst it did this, however, the Hekija pulled back its free arm, allowing a blade to flip out from the underside of its wrist, and swung it towards the Garm Rodi's cockpit. The blade buried itself in there within an instant, killing the pilot within a moment's notice.
At the same time, the other Landman Rodi boosted in and used its round frame to its advantage by crashing into another Garm. The impact dented the outer frame of the former, but as for the latter, it was sent spiralling out of control as its boosters made an attempt to steady itself, though moments later, it was taken out when a blast from the Hotarubi's main cannon impacted it, obliterating it in an instant.
The last Garm Rodi was defeated when Dante rushed in and swung his Hammer Chopper at them. At the same time, the opposing unit swung its Boost Hammer, and the two weapons met, causing them to be thrown out of their respective wielders' manipulators shortly thereafter. However, thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana system, Dante was able to recover his Landman much faster, and in an instant, he swung its arm unit forwards and slammed it into the Garm's neck, with its digits grabbing onto the neck unit with enough force to break through the inner frame. Pulling back shortly thereafter, Danta had his unit rip wires out of the Garm Rodi's neck and boosted his unit backwards before using its Head Vulcans to blast the exposed wiring of his opponent's neck, causing an explosive chain reaction that blew up its head unit, rendering it immobile.
"Nice work, gang!" cheered the pilot of the Hekija, which was revealed to be Lafter Frankland, who whooped at their victory. As for the other Landman Rodi's pilot, he simply grunted, though Chad was able to identify him as the black haired and slightly scarred Aston Atland, who was just as stoic as he always was.
"Don't cheer just yet, ma'am, we've got a second and third wave inbound!" alerted Chad as he checked his radar, eliciting a pouty whine from Lafter as she turned towards the inbound combatants. As she did so, however, Aston's Landman moved towards the damaged Shiden, and in an instant, he held it close and boosted towards the Hotarubi.
"This one is in need of repairs. I'm withdrawing briefly to get him some," stated Aston stoically as he began boosting the Shiden back towards the warship, eliciting a nod from Chad all the while. For as stoic as he always was, Aston did genuinely care for his fellow man, which was touching, to say the least, though they didn't have time to think too much on this as the Garm Rodis came at them once more.
Aiming their ranged weapons up at their inbound targets, the Tekkadan boys and Teiwaz girl began pelting them whilst evading. Several Garm Rodis were shot down thanks to the accuracy provided to the former via the Alaya-Vijnana system, though they made up for this with their numbers. Lafter pouted a little at this as she boosted into the fray, with her using the Hekija's superior speed to draw the enemy's attention, and as she did so, the Landmen Rodi provided cover fire.
Rather abruptly, however, an on screen alert warned Lafter to an inbound threat, prompting her to turn towards it and spot a Garm Rodi wielding its boost hammer approaching her. In response to this, the blonde had her Hekija reach behind itself, at its rear waist armour, and grab onto its Tobiguchi Blade, a sickle-like shortsword, and swung it up at the Boost Hammer. The curved blade of the Tobiguchi hooked onto the Hammer, keeping it from striking the Hekija's head unit, and as the opposing pilot attempted to bring it down onto it, Lafter aimed the 110mm Bayonet Rifle at its cockpit and fired, blasting into it after a short, sustained volley.
"Mou… these guys are no fun!" pouted Lafter over the comm-links as she boosted back to regroup with the boys, to which Dante snickered while Chad chuckled awkwardly, with him not exactly understanding Frankland's concept of 'fun'. But then again, there was a lot that they didn't understand about the blonde…
"Hurry! Get this warship attached to the Isaribi, ASAP!"
Those were the words of a single Gjallarhorn soldier, piloting a Graze, as he motioned towards his squadron to attach the cables from the Isaribi onto their Halfbeak Class Warship. Orga Itsuka's plan on bypassing the Dawn Horizon Corps was… ludicrous, but even so, it was a plan nonetheless!
There were about seven Grazes present for this job,with a good majority of them securing the Isaribi's anchors onto the bow of the Halfbeak. The remaining eight were assisting Tekkadan in holding back their opponents, and considering how they weren't encountering any issues thus far, he'd say that they were doing a respectable job.
"Sir! We've got cable one attached! Cable two is being welded on as we speak!" came the voice of one of the soldier's comrades, with him sounding panicked as he spoke. To this, the man nodded, thanking him for his report, though before he could finish his thanks, his radar blared to life, alerting him and his squadron to an inbound group of Garm Rodis.
"Shit! They got past the initial defenses?!" proclaimed the soldier as he had his Graze take aim with its 120mm Rifle and pelt the inbound hostiles with several blasts. He didn't get much of a response, as he continued firing, with two more Grazes assisting him in this endeavour. When one of the Rodis got too close for comfort, the soldier had his unit reach for its waist and pry the Battle Axe off its hip. With it, he slashed at the Garm Rodi, meeting its Boost Hammer with his own weapon, before having his unit kick it back to put some room between the two units.
As the Garm Rodi floated backwards, it found itself being blasted by several missiles before exploding. Turning towards the source, the Graze pilot saw that the Halfbeak class Warship and the Isaribi were both providing support with their respective cannons, much to his delight, though he was quick to turn back towards the battlefield when his rader blinged once more.
"S-Shit! I'm s-sorry, sir! T-Three of th-those bastards g-got past us!" came a frantic sounding soldier via the LCS communication line. Upon hearing this, the soldier widened his eyes before turning to see a Graze with its cockpit blown open. Likewise, its head, one of its arms and both of its leg units had been completely mangled as well. The pilot surviving, even by an inch of his life, was nothing short of a miracle, and upon noticing this, the soldier grimaced and contacted the welding team as he boosted towards his damaged comrade.
"Welding team! There are upwards of three hostile Mobile Suits headed your way!" alerted the soldier as he hovered his Graze in front of his comrade's damaged unit to defend it from enemy fire. As the bullets clanged against his unit's armour, the soldier held strong, holding back the opposing forces all the while. "I repeat! There are three hostile units headed your way!"
"Roger! We'll intercept them!"
Opening the 'helmet' of his Graze unit, a single soldier made use of his unit's spherical head sensor to lock onto an inbound Garm Rodi, and after confirming a lock-on, he fired the 320mm Bazooka that was mounted on his unit's left arm. The blast hit dead on, destroying the Garm Rodi on impact, though he didn't have much time to celebrate as he was forced to raise his unit's Shield to defend against a volley of shots.
This Graze, alongside four others, were here to defend the Welding Team from any and all threats. Said Welding Team comprised of several Gjallarhorn workers with Mobile Workers, all of whom were doing their absolute best to attach the anchors of the Isaribi onto the Halfbeak class in a timely manner. One had already been fastened on, but they still needed to finish the other, which was about halfway complete as the Garm Rodis closed in.
"Defend the welders with your lives!" ordered a soldier as he charged in and drew the Space Pirate's attention, pelting them with blasts from his 120mm Rifle all the while. The Isaribi and Halfbeak class Warship did their best to assist with their Anti-Aircraft guns, though shooting down targets as nimble as Mobile Suits was no easy task, and as such, the Grazes were tasked with carrying the bulk of this task.
"GAH!" came a cry from a soldier as a Garm Rodi threw a Grenade at him and his fellow Graze, with the two being caught in the blast. While one of them survived the blast, the other had its leg blown clean off, much to the survivor's dismay. "Shit! Are you-"
His words were quickly cut off, however, when the Garm Rodi that threw the Grenade boosted up to the damaged Graze, Boost Hammer in hand, and got ready to destroy it. In an instant, the surviving Graze, dismissing his own safety, boosted his unit between the damaged ally and the inbound hostile, and without thinking, he used it to shield his downed comrade, with the Boost Hammer crashing into the left side of his Graze, obliterating its left arm all the while.
Not to be deterred, the Graze grabbed onto its Battle Axe, and, with a decisive roar of anger from its pilot, swung it up at an angle, slamming it into the bottom of the Garm Rodi's abdomen. The powerful blow nearly cleaved the opposing unit in half at an angle as the lights in its optic dimmed, and as it floated away, the Graze with a missing arm turned towards the other with a missing leg weakly.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I-"
A flash of light was quick to envelop them as, to the side, the Graze wielding a 320mm Bazooka attempted to fire the weapon at an inbound Garm Rodi, only to have it kick at his weapon's barrel and redirect the shot towards its two damaged allies. Upon impacting, the missile destroyed their Mobile Suits, either killing or severely injuring the pilots in the process as the remains of their units floated into space. The bazooka wielding Graze pilot screamed out in rage at this, though before he could say much else, the Garm Rodi jammed its Rifle into its cockpit and unleashed a volley of blasts into it, killing the pilot almost instantly.
"This is almost too easy!" laughed the Space Pirate that had eliminated three Grazes by pure luck as he boosted towards the Welding Team with malicious intent. Said team's guards were already in their Mobile Workers, though they stood little chance against a Mobile Suit, as it destroyed the two Workers with minimal issue, and moments later, the Pirate aimed his Rifle at the Welders themselves, who trembled with terror. "Nighty ni-"
His words were quickly cut off, however, as a Wire Claw slammed into his unit's torso. Gasping out in shock, the Garm Rodi's pilot gasped as he felt himself being yanked towards his attacker, and not long after, he turned his unit's head just in time to see a Schwalbe Graze, a blue coloured predecessor to the Graze with a larger Commander horn and a multitude of thrusters on its chassis,swinging its Battle Axe at his unit.
And less than a second later, he couldn't see anything at all, as the opposing unit's Battle Axe embedded itself into his unit's chest.
Prying its Battle Axe free from the Garm Rodi's chest, the Schwalbe turned towards the Welders and eyed them carefully, and not a moment later, its pilot communicated to them via his LCS links.
"Welding Team, this is Isurugi Camice. I will be defending you from any and all attackers, so please make haste and secure the connection," advised the Schwalbe's pilot, Isurugi, as he turned to fire several shots at an inbound group of Garm Rodis. His accuracy was precise, as he was able to shoot down two of them with minimal issue by blasting at their exposed inner frames and head cameras, though a third was able to get in close and swing its Boost Hammer at the blue Commander type Graze.
In response to this, Isurugi frowned and used his unit's Battle Axe to defend against the strike, though as the weapons clashed, he used the Schwalbe's arm-mounted Wire Claw to stab into its cockpit, killing the pilot in an instant. Upon ripping the claw out, the man glanced up towards the still inbound hostiles and took aim, though before he could fire, a volley of shots coming from the side beat him to it.
Surprised by this sudden and unexpected assist from the side, Isurugi turned his unit's head towards his newly arrived cavalry and saw that a Hekija and a small group of Landmen Rodi and Shidens were moving to assist him.
"Sorry for the delay, we needed some time to regroup and mobilize!" apologised Azee Gurumin as her Hekija unit moved to hover shoulder to shoulder with Isurugi's Schwalbe Graze. The Gjallarhorn soldier bore no ill will towards the Teiwaz member as he began firing on the inbound Garm Rodis with reckless abandon.
"The Brigadier General states that it is always better to be late than to not arrive. Your assistance is most appreciated…" began Isurugi, only to trail off when he realized that he didn't know her name, prompting Azee to introduce herself.
"Azee Gurumin," introduced the young woman as she boosted the Hekija to the side to avoid a shoulder tackle from a Garm Rodi. Said unit boosted past her, allowing the Hekija to use its Tobiguchi Blade to latch onto the Garm's leg. With a pull of the arm controller, Azee had the Teiwaz unit yanked the Rodi towards itself before flinging it towards Isurugi's Schwalbe, who used its Battle Axe to bisect the Garm at the waist before holding it to its side and continuing to fire on the still encroaching Space Pirates.
"Well met, Azee Gurumin. I am Isurugi Camice," responded Isurugi, with the respect being clear in his voice as he continued to fire. As this happened, however, a Tekkadan pilot in a Landman Rodi alerted Camice to how one of the Graze pilots was still alive, prompting the Gjallarhorn soldier to grimace all the while. "Bring him into the closest hanger you have! He will require medical attention, no doubt!"
The Tekkadan pilot simply nodded his unit's head at this command, with him bringing the damaged Graze and its pilot into the Isaribi's MS Hangar for medical attention. As this happened, Azee hummed in acknowledgement, with her finding this move to be respectable on Isurugi's part. "Didn't think any of you Gjallarhorn blokes would see value in saving others."
"Bloodshed will only solve so much, Miss Gurumin. Though necessary, I would prefer to shed as little blood as physically possible when it comes to resolving conflicts, be it the blood of my enemies… or the blood of my allies," stated Isurugi, only to be met with dead silence when Azee watched his Schwalbe dodge a swing from a Boost Hammer before it stabbed its Wire Claw into its back. Thereafter, the Graze swung its Wire Claw, with the impaled Garm Rodi still attached to it, at another Space Pirate, and on impact, the two opposing Mobile Suits sailed off into space before they were shot down by the Isaribi's main cannons.
"Somehow, I find that hard to believe, Isurugi," stated Azee flatly as she sidestepped another Garm Rodi's attack and kicked its back, in turn launching it towards a Shiden and Landman Rodi duo that slammed their respective weapons into either side of the Space Pirate's cockpit, flattening it in an instant.
"Hypocritical, perhaps, but it is an ideal I live by, Miss Gurumin," defended Isurugi blindly as he continued firing at the Garm Rodis, and to this, Azee could only shrug indifferently.
"Well, I suppose I can respect that."
"Boss! The Anchors have been welded on!"
"Nice work out there! Tell Gjallarhorn to recall their guys!" was Orga Itsuka's immediate response as he leaned towards the on-screen display, and as he did so, the Warship rocked a little as a blast hit the Isaribi almost dead on, though the crew were mostly safe as they fired back at whatever was hitting them with their Warship Cannons. Orga himself recovered relatively quickly from this as he shook his head and continued issuing orders. "How's the progress on the engines?!"
"Takaki and Yamagi are helping the Gjallarhorn guys over at the Hotarubi! Their last update is that the engine is good to go, but it won't activate until we're all ready! Gjallarhorn's side of things is almost complete, and as for the Isaribi, we're about halfway there! We just need a few more minutes before it's done!" proclaimed Merribit, who was assisting the crew in the communication side of things as she turned from her post to speak to Orga, who griamced as he nodded.
"It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing! Tell Eugene to keep the Hotarubi's main engines warmed up!" proclaimed Orga, with him directing his men to the best of his abilities. His crew nodded in affirmation to his words, though not long after another member of the bridge turned towards Itsuka in a panic. "What's the situation?"
"We've got a transmission from the Dawn Horizon Corps, sir! It's an open-communication channel!" alerted the young man in a panic as he turned towards his boss. To this, Itsuka simply grimaced as he turned towards the screen, knowing that the head of the DHC was calling in just to gloat… but even so, he could very well use this to his advantage…
"Patch him in," ordered Orga as he positioned himself atop his Command chair with a bit of a nervous tinge, and at that, the kids, despite their worries, nodded and did as they were told. Crossing one leg over the other and putting on his most neutral of expressions, Itsuka watched as Sandoval Reuters, head of the DHC, came on screen. Behind him were two identical Space Pirates, both of whom were eyeing Orga with shit eating grins, though Itsuka didn't let this get to him as he heard them spoke.
"Well well well, if it isn't Orga Itsuka, leader of Tekkadan. Or rather… the former leader of Tekkadan, once we're done here," stated Sandoval, with him grinning as he brushed triple braided beard rather self-assuringly. Orga… chose not to wonder why he had a bullseye tattooed onto his forehead as he kept his eyes on Reuter's own pair, with him frowning all the while.
"Big words coming from someone like you, Sandoval. We weren't even expecting a fight, so we came with minimal numbers, and here you are with enough Mobile Suits to start a small war. Were you so scared of us that you decided to show up with added support or something?" mocked Orga as he eyed Sandoval, unimpressed. To this, the Space Pirate found himself faltering a little as his initially calm demeanor disappeared briefly, though not long after, he regained it as he scoffed and shook his head.
"Any organisation worth its salt knows to bring its A game to every situation, Orga Itsuka! I'll make sure you learn this the hard way when I crush your pathetic little fleet! Destroying your flagships will earn myself a good mark on my resume, and defeating a Gjallarhorn warship will be a fine feather in my cap!" laughed Sandoval self-assuredly as he leaned back on his Commander chair, seeming assured in his victory.
Orga knew better.
The Tekkadan boss knew that numbers meant nothing in a fight. Not if you could back these numbers up with an actual display of force. Thus far, despite being outnumbered 10 to 1, Tekkadan has lost none of its members to the DHC, and vice versa, they were losing Pirates by the dozens to just the frontrow defenders as the seconds ticked by.
"Is that so? Well, if that's the case, then you're taking your sweet fucking time, Sandoval Reuters," stated Orga, with him smiling as he acknowledged that he had touched a sore spot, with Sandoval grimacing as he turned towards his men in annoyance. The two behind him flinched as they watched Reuters attempt to form a proper response to Itsuka's words, though right as he did so, the on-screen display cut off, courtesy of Merribit, who severed the communication link between the Isaribi and the DHC flagship at a somewhat comedic moment.
"He was getting annoying," stated Merribit, not even bothering to turn to eye Orga as she spoke, though Itsuka could tell that she was smiling. He'd have to give her a raise for that, though for now, he simply frowned as he saw another transmission coming in, this time from the Gjallarhorn Halfbeak warship. The other communications expert patched them in without a second thought, and in an instant, they were met with the face of Liza Enza, who, despite his smile, appeared mildly stressed as he spoke to his allies.
"Orga Itsuka! We have completed the preparations for our engine systems!" stated Liza as he saluted Orga, who nodded firmly as he finished. "How are things on your end?"
Right as he said this, a young man burst into the bridge, with him skidding to a halt as he did so. Turning towards him, Orga eyed him expectantly, and not a moment later, he spoke.
"Sir! The special engine attachment things are almost completely booted up! Just two more minutes and we'll be home free!" stated the young man as he came to a halt, and at that, Orga nodded firmly and turned back towards Liza.
"You heard him! Two minutes! Can you hold for a little longer, kid?"
"I can, Orga Itsuka!"
"ORA ORA!"
Yelling out with all his heart, Norba Shino hollered as he fired his unit's 130mm Rifle at the inbound Garm Rodis. These wankers didn't have much in the way of skill, but damn, did they make up for it with sheer numbers! For every one that he shot down, two more would come to take their place!
His volley of shots managed to bring down a handful of Garm Rodis that came his way, though one managed to get in close and attempted to bash Norba's unit with its shoulder shield. Shino met it head on with his unit's gauntleted leg arm, and as soon as they impacted one another, the Ryusei Go was forced backwards a little thanks to the Garm Rodi's weight, though as it sailed backwards, the Shiden used its 130mm Rifle to pelt the Garm, disabling it with a few good shots to the head and neck.
"One down, many more to- WHOA!"
Right as Shino said that, the Alaya-Vijnana system built into his Ryusei Go blared to life, alerting him of an inbound Warship cannon blast coming his way. Upon realizing this, Norba boosted his unit out of the way, with him just barely evading the shot that came close enough to darken the Nanolaminated paint on his unit's abdomen. The warship shot ended up hitting a Garm Rodi that was locked in a clash against Ride's Shiden, demolishing it in a single blast.
"Shit! Fall back, now!" ordered Shino as he realized that his team had pushed too far out. He didn't realize that they had entered their enemy's warship cannon range until it was too late, and in an instant, his team began to pull back whilst firing their rifles at the pursuing Space Pirates.
"GAH!" came a cry from behind Shino, prompting him to gasp and turn to see a Shiden being struck near the hip via a Warship cannon blast. The blow destroyed its leg and damaged its waist severely, leaving it heavily unbalanced as it began boosting towards one side. In a panic, Norba boosted towards the damaged Shiden and grabbed onto its arm unit before retreating, with him using the Ryusei Go's chassis to shield his injured ally all the while.
"Kh! Shit's getting bad! Boss, how's the start-up going?!" proclaimed Shino as he retreated alongside the rest of his team, to which Orga huffed as he got a quick report from his subordinates.
"Just hold out for a little longer, all of you! The engines are all set, we just need them to warm up now!" stated Orga over the commotion, only for Lafter Frankland's voice to cut in moments later.
"Well, warm it up with a flamethrower for all I care! We're losing a shit ton of ground here!" protested Lafter as she moved in to assist the Muscle Unit, using her Hekija's 110mm Bayonet Rifle to blast down several Garm Rodis as she did so. She eventually found herself fighting back-to-back alongside the Gusion Rebake Full City, with the Hekija covering its rear whilst the Gundam did the same for her.
"I… uh… don't think that's how it works, Lafter," muttered Akihiro, confused as he fired several more shots, downing several Space Pirates in the process, only for Lafter to pout as they split apart as a Garm Rodi attempted to strike them with its Boost Hammer.
"It's a figure of speech, Akihiro!" whined Lafter as she used the Tobiguchi Blade to stab into the Garm Robi's ankle before pulling it back and flinging it towards the Gusion, who released its grip on one of its 120mm Rifles and punched the Garm straight in the head with its knuckle equipped fist. On impact, the entire head unit of the Rodi was torn clean off and sent soaring into the distance, never to be seen again.
"Oh… I forgot that you did those sorts of things," apologised Akihiro awkwardly as the Gusion grabbed onto the 120mm Rifle once more and continued its volley, eliciting a snicker from Lafter as she smiled at his density, though before long, the two had to pull back as the Dawn Horizon Corps' flagship entered combat range. For as tough as the Gusion's armour was, a direct hit from a Warship's main cannon would still be lethal towards it.
"You're such a ditz, Akihiro!"
"Uh… sorry?"
'Jeez, how dense can you even get…'
And with that parting thought, Shino found himself chuckling before he turned back towards the encroaching Garm Rodis and fired at them. As he did so, Ride assisted him in retrieving the damaged Shiden with his own, with him bringing the damaged unit back to the Hotarubi for repairs. Norba smiled at this, with him acknowledging how his combat-focused role as a pilot had matured Ride as much as it did, though he didn't dwell too much on this as he used his Partizan to deflect a shot from a Rodi before boosting to one side to avoid a strike from another.
As the aforementioned Garm Rodi missed its swing, Shino, whilst its back was still turned towards it, stabbed the sharp end of his unit's Partizen into the hostile unit's back before swinging it towards another Garm that was firing at him. On impact, the two Rodi Frames were sent spiraling backwards, only to be shot down by nearby Grazes that were providing suppressive fire.
The Graze units were, for the most part, wiped out. The unruly combat styles and doggish 'overwhelm the opposition with sheer numbers' strategy of Space Pirates were simply too much for the more organised Gjallarhorn soldiers, and within moments, almost half of the Grazes had been wiped out. Even so, however, the remaining soldiers fought on with all they had, with a single one of them having lost an arm but still going strong as he fought alongside the Tekkadan aces by the front lines.
Noticing this one armed Graze, Shino moved his Shiden towards it and used its bright colours to draw enemy fire. This worked quite a bit, as the Space Pirates began targeting him over his Gjallarhorn ally, and when he was close enough, Norba noticed how its thrusters seemed to be damaged, explaining why it was still so far out, though he didn't think much more on this as the soldier opened a communication line with the Ryusei Go III.
"Pilot, what are you doing?! Fall back, now!" protested the Graze unit as he continued to fire at the Garm Rodis. There was bravery in his voice, but Shino also recognised the fear in it as he continued to draw enemy fire.
"Fall back? Sure, but you're coming with me!" proclaimed Shino as he turned towards the Graze and grabbed onto whatever remained of its destroyed arm, pulling it back as they retreated. The soldier was no doubt confused by this, though he continued to fire nonetheless.
"Just go, pilot! I'm dead weight anyways!" urged the Gjallarhorn pilot as he felt his unit being pulled back, eliciting a grimace from Shino as he forcefully threw the damaged Graze back towards Tekkadan's side of the battlefield, where he was caught by a Landman Rodi and another Graze within seconds.
"Those words mean nothing in Tekkadan, buddy, and while you're with us, you're definitely not dead weight! Get him onto the Hotarubi, ASAP!" ordered Shino, eliciting a nod from both the Landman and the Graze as they retreated temporarily. Norba smiled a tiny bit at this as he turned back to the battlefield, only to be met by a volley of gunfire from inbound Garm Rodis. "Shit!"
"We've got your six, Shino!"
Turning towards the source of the voice, Shino watched as Akihiro and Lafter boosted up to assist him. The former's Gundam pelted the inbound Space Pirates with volley after volley of 120mm shots while the latter rained Hell down upon those that Atland was unable to shoot down, and after a few moments of firing, eleven Garm Rodis in total were taken down, though with every Rodi shot down, several more boosted in to take their place.
Their numbers didn't matter, though, as Akihiro, Shino and Lafter proved to be more than a match for them, regardless of their quantity advantage. With the Alaya-Vijnana on their side, the Tekkadan aces were able to hold back the Pirates for as long as humanly possible, and Frankland's skills with the Hekija allowed her to keep up with the two young men as she expertly dodged and weaved around the gunfire before delivering her own unto her opponents.
Before long, however, the inevitable happened, and as Akihiro moved to push down on a button on his unit's arm controllers, he heard the click of his weapon's empty magazines, prompting him to grimace when he realized that he was now empty. The same could be said for Shino and Lafter, who had run dry as their respective armaments clicked as well, prompting Norba to grimace as he grit his teeth, holstered his weapon and pried the Partizen off the back of the Ryusei Go.
Likewise, Lafter, despite her lack of ammo, brandished her Tobiguchi Blade and activated the wrist-mounted flip-out blades on the Hekija's wrists, with her using the former to block a hit from a Boost Hammer before using the latter to disable its wielder with a precise stab to the cockpit. Akihiro didn't comment on how good of a pilot Lafter was as he released his hold on the 120mm Rifles and took aim with his forearms, and not a moment later, twin unguided rockets were launched from the sizable forearm gauntlets of his unit, with one impacting a Garm Rodi's exposed waist, damaging it severely, while the other missed, though it still managed to hit a Warship's bow, shaking it up in the process.
"We should retreat," suggested Akihiro, with his grimace very much audible as he avoided a strike from an overconfident Garm Rodi and grabbed onto its back. Gripping on tightly, Akihiro had the Gusion rip its backpack off its chassis before it slammed its fist into its Ahab Reactor, destroying it, before kicking it off into the distance.
"Yeah, I get that. C'mon!" agreed Shino as he ripped the sharp end of his Partizan out of a Garm Rodi's cockpit, with the Gusion motioning for him to go on ahead. He'd take up the rear thanks to his heavy armour, something that Norba didn't oppose as he nodded and moved to get their teams to fall back as well, though the Hekija remained behind to support the Rebake.
"Lafter, you should-" began Akihiro as he boosted backwards, firing an unguided rocket from his unit's gauntlet all the while. He was quickly cut off, however, as the Hekija moved to boost next to the Gusion.
"Shut it, Akihiro. We're in this together, so just focus on getting back for a change, alright? I've got your six!" stated Lafter, with her smile evident in her words as she spoke. Akihiro felt rather touched by that statement as he opened his mouth to respond, only to widen his eyes when he saw a Garm Rodi boosting at them from the sides.
"Incoming!" protested Akihiro as he had the Gusion grab onto the Hekija's shoulder and push it back, just in time as the Rodi slammed its shoulder into the Rebake's chest. The impact didn't do much to damage the Gundam thanks to its absurdly thick armour, though it did sent the unit back a little, giving the Garm enough time to grab onto its Boost Hammer.
"AKIHIRO!" yelled out Lafter in a panic as she moved to assist him, though she was stopped when a Garm Rodi intercepted her and attempted to strike her with its Boost Hammer, to which she responded with her Tobiguchi Blade, clashing their weapons together all the while. As for the one facing off against the Gusion, its pilot broadcasted his voice to the Full City as it closed in on the seemingly defenseless Gundam, seeming confident in bringing it down all the while.
"NOW HERE'S A SITTING DUCK FOR! SAY YOUR PRAYERS, KID!" laughed the Space Pirate as he closed in on Akihiro, with his words only serving to infuriate Atland as he collapsed the Gusion's sub arms into their containers and had his unit reach behind itself. As he did so, the Variable Scissor Shield tilted towards the Gundam's manipulator, with twin handles sliding out from both sides of the weapon's base all the while.
"A SITTING DUCK, AM I?!" scoffed Akihiro as he pulled the Variable Shield off the Full City's rear, and as he did so, he brought it in front of itself with quite a bit of force. The shield unfolded from both sides, with the beige sides of the variable armament becoming handles for the Gusion to hold, and within moments, it had transformed into its Scissor mode, with Atland separating its jaws as the Garm Rodi boosted towards his unit at breakneck speeds.
Because of its speed, the Garm Rodi was unable to stop itself before it was caught in the jaws of the Variable Scissor Shield, which began to put the squeeze on either side of its chassis. Akihiro didn't stop with the pressure until the opposing Mobile Suit was split in half, and by then, it exploded at the waist, with both halves of the Rodi floating off moments later.
"Lafter, are you alright over there?" inquired Akihiro as he turned away from his latest kill, only to see that Frankland had defeated two Garm Rodis while he wasn't looking, eliciting a huff from him as he eyed the Hekija, impressed. "Hm, never mind I asked."
And the high pitched, yet endlessly adorable, giggle from Lafter served as a good enough answer to him as the two began to fall back before the DHC Warship entered combat range.
"Boss, we got a memo from the engine room! Trow and Embi relayed to me that the engine's up and running!"
Upon hearing this from Merribit, Orga nodded and began grinning, with him turning towards their primary navigator all the while. About time! Now they could get this show on the road!
"Rita! Do you have our navigation path laid out?!" inquired Orga, to which the boy he was speaking to, Rita Reroutata, a lad with green streaks in his brown coloured hair, nodded firmly at.
"I've got a chart pathed out into the navigation system! It's now just a matter of following it!" confirmed Rita, with him patching in a flight path for the Isaribi and Hotarubi. Said path was erratic and nearly impossible to follow by conventional means, but Tekkadan was anything but. They could get this done.
"Seems like a drag… I'll handle it!" proclaimed Eugene, with Orga knowing full well that Seven Stark could handle controlling two warships all at once, though at the same time, Liza Enza seemed mildly concerned with this.
"This seems somewhat complicated, I must admit… our navigators will do their best to follow your lead, Orga Itsuka!" said Liza worriedly, eliciting a nod from Orga all the while. Thereafter, he tapped a button on the arm rest of his commander's seat, opening a communication line with all Tekkadan members all the while. A soldier on the Halfbeak warship did the same, with them opening a line to all surviving Gjallarhorn pilots all the while.
"All units, fall back! It doesn't matter which warship you fall back to, just get in, PRONTO!" proclaimed Orga as Rita, alongside many others on the bridge, fired up the Isaribi's thrusters. In the meantime, several units moved to dock with whatever Warship they could. Isurugi and Azee both docked their respective units in the Halfbeak Class Warship while most of the Tekkadan members boarded the Hotarubi, and as soon as the final Mobile Suit had been clamped in…
"CHARGE!"
With the command from Eugene Seven Stark, the Tekkadan crewmembers aboard the Hotarubi disabled all safeties on the warship, and likewise, the safeties on the other two were taken offline as well, with the ginger controlling the Isaribi remotely as he began boosting both warships forwards at top speed.
The young man could only imagine the look on Sandavol's face as the three warships charged towards his fleet at breakneck speeds, though his shock would only last for so long as the trio closed in on the DHC opposition. Garm Rodis began pelting the three vessels with their rifles, though against the heavy armour of the Isaribi and Hotarubi, their weapons were virtually useless, and after a few moments of firing, they were forced to get out of the way lest they wished to be bashed aside by the armoured bows of the Tekkadan warships.
"Eugene! We have twenty seconds before we enter combat range!" informed a crewmember as they drew closer to the Dawn Horizon Corps' flagship, which had its main guns pointed towards the encroaching vessels all the while. Eugene smiled at this, with him always enjoying just how much of a badass stunts like this made him feel as the three warships closed in on the vessels, and after a handful of seconds had passed… Seven Stark leaned forwards and swung his arm ahead of himself.
"MISSILE CANISTERS, FIRE ON ALL SIDES!" ordered Eugene, and as he yelled this, the missile canisters on both the Isaribi and Hotarubi roared to life, blasting several volleys of missiles directed at the DHC fleet the moment they got into range. Sandoval Reuters laughed at this as the Anti-Air cannons shot down the missiles with ease, but soon enough, he learnt that not all of the missiles were of the damaging kind.
Rather, for every three missiles fired, two were filled with Nano Mirror Chaff, a potent fog-like material that disrupted the LCS and the visibility of the opposing fleet. The Garm Rodis that were stationed around the Dawn Horizon Corps warships found themselves unable to communicate with one another as the aforementioned warships began to flash lights in an attempt to communicate through the smoke, though while the Space Pirates were unable to establish communications with each other, Tekkadan held no such problem.
Guided by the Alaya-Vijnana system, Eugene, commanding both the Isaribi and Hotarubi simultaneously, roared as he guided the warships through the smoke at top speed, weaving them through the chaos with horrific precision and doggish determination. Bursting into the smokescreen, the Hotarubi's main cannon fired upon the DHC fleet to cripple them as it passed, and likewise, the Isaribi blasted several Garm Rodis and even some of the warships as it passed by, with a few unfortunate Rodis becoming nothing more than splatters on its bow as it crashed into them. The Gjallarhorn Halfbeak warship was unable to do much to assist, though Liza Enza put his faith in his Tekkadan allies as they quite literally towed them onwards.
"Eugene! We're reaching the required speed to activate the thrusters!" proclaimed a navigator on the bridge, eliciting a grin from the aforementioned man all the while. "We can confirm that the Isaribi and Gjallarhorn warship are both at the required speed as well!"
"Well, then what the fuck are we waiting for?! HIT IT!"
And as he said this, the Tekkadan warships burst out of the Nano Mirror Chaff…
… and moments later, they disappeared, leaving behind a confused fleet of Space Pirates within the massive cloud of smoke.
Beep
Beep
Beep
"..."
Beep
Beep
Beep
"...?"
Beep
Beep
Beep
"...kh…"
Signal received
ASW-G-08… Gundam Barbatos
Condition: Critical
Currently: Mobile
And in spite of his massive headache following that horrible test run of the warp drive… Orga Itsuka couldn't help but smile at those words before he lost consciousness once more
Female Titan Arc: END
And thus ends the longest arc (so far)! Whew! That was a doozey!
I hope you all enjoyed it! What comes next? Who knows...? Stay tuned~
Not much else to say, really. Onto the review replies!
ian12091995: well I wouldn't say that, but thanks regardless!
Dat-boi-waddup: well ironically...
Guest: TF Animated reference? Perhaps not intentionally...
Touhoufanatic: Mina in an MS? Perhaps... and regarding Barbatos, he's not in the best state at the moment, but he'll be operational... barely.
Dead344156: hah. I appreciate the compliment!
Guest (Guestleo): ah. For that, I apologise. Regarding Erwin, him apparently coming off as villainous was completely accidental. I wanted to write him as a guy trying to do his best, only to accidentally make him take on a somewhat evil aesthetic.
Arenjie: heh. Well about that...
SilentGentlemen: well I'm glad you thought that!
Guest: I am also glad you thought that!
starscreamer11: instead, I'll cuck ya'll with this chapter!
trainfan2100: *cough* also do I know you from somewhere?
cassnova5424: the former seems more likely as time goes on *wink*
Guest(MrPrince): don't discount Barbatos just yet. He's damaged, but not destroyed!
biojal1998: well... yeah pretty much. But when is the real question now.
RXSlime: well, it's not it for Barbatos just yet... :)
Guest(Shadow): well yeah I do feel better. And regarding Barbatos... stay tuned!
KidGoku15: an appropriate OST considering the nature of the previous chapter
barbatos009: it really does...!
I'm honestly glad ya'll enjoyed the previous chapter. I had a lot of worries on you guys not liking how much pushback Annie gave to Barbatos, but apparently ya'll did enjoy it!
With the Gundam in critical and doubts on its pilot's loyalties, things seem dire for Mikazuki Augus! However, a storm encroaches on the soldiers within the Eldian stronghold... a storm that they cannot hope to face on their own!
Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam: Tekketsu No Kyojin... The Clash of the Titans Arc!
Metal will fold, and flesh will burn... and help will come in the form of demons, raining in from the sky!