Relevant Notes Will Be At The End Of The Chapter
-000-
Mobile Suit/Mass Effect
Episode 20:
Fly, Gundam!
-000-
Our progress through the North-Western Deguan forest was slow, with long stretches where we had to travel on the ground to avoid enemy detection. Our destination was Baise Base, a Congressional Army facility built into the Mittermeier Mountain Range. It was the largest CAF installation this side of Deguo, which means they're our best bet to link up with allied forces.
We had hoped that the closer we got to Baise Base, the less we'd see of the enemy. We should've known better though, since we've had nothing but bad luck since this damned war started. As the gap between us and the Mittermeier Mountains closed, so too did the enemy's presence increase. Anxiety started to gnaw at my mind as we were forced to travel on the ground more and more.
It was on the sixth day of our travel -at the final stretch of our journey- that confrontation became unavoidable.
Several alien fighter planes streaked through the sky, but I noticed there was something about the way they were flying. Enemy patrols tended to fly high and slow, to maximize the chances of spotting something on the ground. These guys were flying low and fast, like they were avoiding something...
That was when I put the pieces together and realized Baise Base was under attack.
"Verns, can you check on the emergency channels?" I asked him.
I'd have done it myself, but I found out the day after we escaped Atlas that the technicians in charge of my Gundam had messed up when installing the long range communicators.
"You think the enemy's already at Baise Base?"
"All signs point that way." I explained.
I couldn't see it for myself, but I could tell that Verns was nodding in silent agreement. He was probably thinking of something similar, but wasn't 100% confident enough to say it out loud.
Verns checked the airwaves for distress signals. We expected to hear calls for help from Baise Base itself, but what we found was something different. Sharing the transmission with the rest of us, we heard a familiar voice pleading for help.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is Sunfish Logistics flight four-niner-niner, we are currently under attack by alien aircraft!" The voice spoke.
"Wait, that's Mister Fosh, from the spaceport!" Rosen said. "Wasn't he supposed to be at Port Tsingtao?"
I wondered the same thing, curious why a flight of civilian Super Garudas were flying straight into the heart of a warzone.
"Our Super Garudas are loaded with medical supplies, munitions, and also reinforcements for Baise Base." Mister Fosh continued his broadcast. "We can't maneuver and our civilian models don't have defense turrets to shoot back... somebody please help us!"
That explained just about everything. The military's own Super Garudas were probably tied down in other fronts, so it's not surprising that a civilian transport company would be contracted for a resupply operation.
"We have to help them!" Rosen pleaded. "We can't leave them out dry after they stuck their own necks for us!"
"Rosen's right." I said in agreement. "We have to do something.
I could hear Verns audibly sigh through comms, though he didn't disagree.
"Figured you two would say that." He said. "But remember, the coolant in our Gundams are starting to spoil. We mightn't need any fuel for flight anymore, but if the coolant quality falls below 10% efficiency, we might as well be grounded."
Verns' stern warning gave me a reminded to check over my Gundam's coolant status. Just as he said, the system reported that it was close to going bad. We stayed away from firefights as much as we could these past few days almost solely because we realized that getting into unnecessary engagements would rapidly degrade the quality of the coolants in our machines. If we went all in on this next fight, there's a high chance our coolant would spoil before sundown.
I looked to Rosen, and she looked back at me. We both knew the stakes, but we were both determined to save those men who risked their lives to help us.
"That's fine." I answered Verns. "Besides, I don't think I'd be able to sleep well at night if we didn't even try."
We steeled ourselves for what was to come, and when we were ready to fight, I answered the call for help.
"Mister Fosh, can you hear me?" I said over the radio. "This is Lieutenant Kreusgluck. Hang on tight, help is on the way!"
-000-
The situation was starting to become difficult, that much was clear to Captain Petrovsky. It may not appear like it, but all that stood between the enemy and the Deguan continent falling was Petrovsky and his company of Army Rangers, holding the line against all odds.
Well, that may have been a bit rude. After all, there were also a half dozen Colonial Defense Force platoons, as well as two platoons from the Congressional Army Reserves present at base. Looking at it realistically though, Petrovsky was of the mind that two understrength Army platoons and a few hundred CDF militia using Crisis era hardware weren't exactly going to cut it against the horde of aliens that seemingly never ended.
So to be short, it was him and his Rangers against the horde.
Now, it was the third attack of the day, for the third day in a row. The enemy was making a coordinated assault all along the frontline, no doubt trying to fish for weaknesses to exploit. In the distance, enemy infantry moved among the treeline, using the forests around the Mittermeier Mountains as cover for their advance. Their armored fighting vehicles dominated the main road that lead from the NW-44 Highway towards Baise Base itself. Light artillery positions -mortars and self propelled artillery guns- were hidden under the thick forest canopy, keep them safe from the few Army Gunstrikes that could swoop in and silence them.
"Ramirez, take your squad and one of the Guncarriers and reinforce the left flank!" Petrovsky barked into the radio. "CDF are having a hard time there. If we lose those weekend warriors, then the continent is as good as lost!"
This was no exaggeration. Baise Base might seem like the average Congressional Army airbase from the outside, but in truth it is the largest ballistic missile base in Shanxi, second only to Long Mountain in Xinzhou. Ever since the enemy started bombarding allied positions from orbit with their missiles, Baise Base has been working overtime, slowly depleting its own reserves of ballistic missiles to intercept the enemy's strikes. On occasion, Baise would even strike down an enemy warship that was orbiting too low for it's own good.
A squad of soldiers quickly vacated the defensive position they had previously manned, running straight towards the Guncarrier marked Candy Van. It had dug itself into a hull down position, where only the 'turret' section stood out from cover. The Guncarrier, appearing like a giant armored personnel carrier when in its mobile armor mode, was providing close fire support with the twin 208mm railcannons on its back. Two 'arm' like appendages were armed with twin beam guns each, which combined with the independent 20mm autocannons on the 'shoulders' provided suppressive fire and kept the enemy at bay. As it backed out, its mass effect grav sleds hummed into life, raising the troop and ammo compartment that made up its 'butt' and relieving much of the vehicle's ground pressure. This let the forward tracks drive it around better, making the Guncarrier deceptively agile for its size.
Ramirez' marines hopped into the passenger compartment, after which Candy Van backed out of its hull down ditch and sped off towards the left flank, leaving the center with only two Guncarriers left.
Just like the past few days, the aliens called for a smoke barrage once their infantry cleared the tree line. The smokescreen did a good job at covering the alien advance, as whatever chemical mix they used to generate the smoke also masked their thermal signatures. This meant that the Congressional Forces were forced to rely on infantry RADAR and LIDAR detection systems, which weren't exactly the most reliable things in the world.
Army machine gunners opened fire at the general direction of the enemy's contact blips. Without real visual contact, it was hard to tell how effective their fire was, but given that Baise Base managed to hold the line for three days using these tactics, Petrovsky had to assume it was working.
This continued for a few minutes, as both sides wildly exchanged fire at each other. Their vision obscured, landing an accurate shot was considered a matter of luck rather than skill. It wouldn't be until the first of the enemy infantry emerged from the smoke that Petrovsky realized something had changed.
Now, the Captain had seen the enemy's fighting vehicles before... but these were different. They were bigger, bulkier, heavier. The main gun on their turrets were bigger, no doubt more powerful. They floated, unbothered by the shifting terrain that had been battered by shellfire and explosions. These new vehicles only kept pace with the surrounding infantry to give them support.
Petrovsky recognized these vehicles for what they were - Main Battle Tanks. These were a far cry from the armored transports he had faced off these past few days. He quickly surmised that the enemy was starting to funnel their main force into the fight... which was not good.
Speaking into the radio, the Captain quickly gave orders to the two Guncarriers still holding the center with him.
"Prioritize your fire on the enemy tanks!" Petrovsky quickly barked his orders. "The infantry and the light armor will fall back once we've destroyed the tip of their spear!"
The Guncarrier marked Ale Strike, with its twin railcannons lowered for direct fire, started lobbing high explosive shells downrange. Being launched at 70% power, these shells were hitting with the equivalent yield of a naval cannon. Armor piercing warheads weren't necessary when your shots overmatched the enemy's armor by a significant degree. One such shell landed a direct hit on an enemy tank's forward glacis. Even with its steep angle and energy shields protecting it, the 208mm HE shell penetrated easily, before exploding in the forward compartment and obliterating the entire vehicle from the inside. Another alien tank was more fortunate, as it had managed to evade a direct hit from the railcannon shot. However, the shell still carried enough explosive yield to significantly damage the tank, knocking out its grav sled and sending it crashing into the ground.
Ale Strike took turns with its partner Guncarrier, Bad Apple, firing in sequence and making sure there was no lull in their attacks. Thanks to their relentless fire, the enemy's assault began to lose momentum.
"Don't let up!" Petrovsky yelled out. "Kill them all and drive them back!"
But just as the tide appeared to turn in the favor of the Congressional forces, a new foe emerged.
"Sir, enemy movement detected from the smokescreen, i-it's fast!" One of Petrovsky's adjutants reported.
Bursting out from the cover of smoke, three bipedal machines sped into the fray, weaving between fire and alien machines alike.
"Mobile suits." Petrovsky hissed. "All teams, prepare for anti-mobile suit combat!"
As the enemy mobile suits sped onwards, the Guncarriers on standby prepared for close quarters combat. Both Ale Strike and Bad Apple raised up their 'butts' and rotating it about until it pressed neatly like a backpack, then their forward tracks twisted and unfolded to turn into legs. Next, the 'turret' expanded, with the 'turret ring' extending upwards and revealing an oscillating joint and the side guns extending into fully articulated arms. Thrusters then kicked in, raising the machine until it stood fully upright.
Now fully transformed, the Guncarriers stood not as mobile armors, but as mobile suits.
Despite this display, the aliens were unfased. One such alien biped doubled down on its attack, rushing forward with its vibro axe ready to hack the Guncarriers to pieces. In response, Ale Strike swapped the firemode on its rightside beam guns, making it let out a constant beam instead of firing short bursts. Now effectively armed with a beam saber, Ale Strike blocked the alien biped's attack, before swiftly shooting the enemy with its free arm. Three well placed shots right into the alien biped's chest disabled it quickly, letting Ale Strike kick it away and refocus its efforts on another target.
On the other end, Bad Apple was having a harder time fighting off its attackers. Using their superior mobility, a pair of alien bipeds attacked in sequence, striking with their vibro axes and pulling back right before the Guncarrier could retaliate properly. Ale Strike's pilot immediately turned to his comrade and unloaded on the enemy, firing bolt after bolt of supercharged Minovsky particles at them. However, unlike the brave -though ultimately foolish- alien that had tried to cut down Ale Strike, these two targeting Bad Apple were much smarter. Once they realized their opening was lost, they quickly withdrew with covering fire from their tanks.
"Shit, these guys are good!" Bad Apple's pilot cursed over battle network.
"Hold steady, don't let up!" Petrovsky tried to encourage the defenders. "We've beat them back before, we can do it again!"
"Hooah!" All the Rangers in his command yelled out in unison.
It was clear that the Army Rangers weren't going to break any time soon. Petrovsky couldn't be prouder of the men under his command. The same couldn't be said of the Army Reservists and CDF Militia, for different reasons each.
The Army Reservists were well motivated, though they weren't as well equipped as they could be. Much of their hardware weren't stored at Baise Base. The reservists were only supposed to be here for a while before transiting to Xinzhou. When the Dragon Farm fell and all contact with Long Mountain was cut off, they were effectively stranded here until General Adalbart over at Port Tsingtao could find something else for them to do. Things only got worse when the aliens began besieging Baise Base, forcing the reservists to take up what arms they can to defend the installation. Their poor condition was entirely out of their control, Petrovsky thought. That they were still willing to fight despite all these setbacks spoke volumes of the courage of these men. It was high command that had failed to put them into good use, and this infuriated the Ranger captain to no end.
The Militia, on the other hand...
Well, they may have dressed like an army, and even had the hardware for like one... but it's clear that refresher training once a month was not enough to turn a ragtag group of weekend volunteers into a proper fighting force. They were a competent enough peacekeeping force, but no more. Their lack of discipline was the weak link that's going to break first, Petrovsky was sure of it.
The next alien assault began shortly, initiated by yet another artillery barrage. Using their head mounted beam vulcan guns, the Guncarriers acted as impromptu CRAM turrets, shooting down a handful of shells as they arced through the sky. This time, even more of the enemy's mobile suits appeared to fight, signaling that the battle was only going to get more intense.
"Damnit, there's too many of them!" Petrovsky cursed. "Withdraw to the second line, now!"
-000-
I quickly twisted my Gundam to the right, turning almost 180 degrees in an instant. With the Specter Gundam now flying 'backwards', I locked on to two enemy fighters which was lining up an attack run on one of Mister Fosh's Super Garudas. In two pulls of the trigger, I nailed the two alien planes, reducing them into scrap and shrapnel.
"That seems like the last of the fighters!"
"For now, at least!" Verns added.
"Unfortunately, Lieutenant is right." Mister Fosh added grimly. "I've just received word from the commander of Baise Base. The enemy are throwing everything they've got at the defenders."
I winced hearing the news. If the base falls then it wouldn't matter that we stopped the enemy's fighters from downing Mister Fosh and his Super Garudas, they wouldn't be able to land and deliver the supplies.
It was at this point that I realized, the fate of the war in Deguo rested in the hands of our Gundams.
"Then we'll fly ahead and clear the way." I declared, tightening my grip on my control sticks. "Rosen, Verns, let's go!"
Approval from the other two weren't necessary, they figured out what was at stake as well. The three of us rocketed ahead of the Super Garudas, dropping in altitude quickly as we dove below the clouds. Breaking through the thick coverage, we finally saw the full extent of the enemy's force.
"Holy moly, that's gotta be their entire army!" Rosen gasped.
"An army detachment, more likely." Verns corrected. "I don't see too much in the way of heavy armor and emplaced artillery. They're mostly mechanized infantry."
"Where are their artillery emplacements?" I asked while scanning the field on my own.
Since we're surveying different parts of the field, we identified different targets altogether. Rosen, watching the enemy's right flank, found a large chunk of their mechanized infantry and tanks formations fighting through fields of empty grass. To the left flank, I found that most of the enemy's infantry and a handful of alien mobile suits were fighting over the uneven terrain of a riverbend to reach the defenders' lines. Finally at the center, Verns could only barely see through the tree canopy that the enemy was trying to hide what he believed was the majority of their forces.
"That's a lot of them." Verns gritted out. "I take back my words, Rosen. You might be right about this being the entire enemy army."
"They haven't spotted us yet." I then pointed out. "I imagine their SPAAs would be firing away at us if they did. What's our game plan?"
"You and Rosen hit them in their rear." Verns quickly planned out. "That's probably where their artillery and command centers are."
"But Lieutenant, that means..." Rosen wanted to say, though Verns quickly cut her off.
"I can handle the diversion on my own." Verns simply replied.
Without another word he boosted off by himself, right towards the front line... where the enemy was thickest. I grimaced as I watched the enemy begin to pour fire at Verns and his Gundam. Airburst flak exploded all around him, laser burning through the sky and missiles streaking through the air. Even though he was evading all of the attacks easily, I couldn't help but worry. Whenever a lull in the enemy fire came, Verns would fire back, hitting one of the enemy's tanks or mobile suits, scoring a kill most times. Even so, it was just him against what appeared to be an army.
As hard as it was, I had to suppress my concern for the moment. I had an equally dangerous task that I had to focus on.
"Damn that man..." I grumbled. "Rosen, let's not waste any time!"
"R-right!"
So we flew off in a separate direction, towards where we believe the enemy's reserves were. With Verns causing such a ruckus and taking up all the enemy's attention, it was easy for our stealthy Gundams to slip in behind the alien lines unnoticed. The enemy only realized that we had outflanked them when Rosen and I landed right by what appeared to be a back-line mustering point, and opened fire.
My first shot hit a vehicle I had identified as a fuel truck. A few of these were at Yuu Liang spaceport, and they blew up in a spectacular fireball each time I had shot at them. The next shot was fired at a transport truck, which turned out to be empty. A mistake I thought was a minor one, until I realized the few seconds I spent firing at the empty truck could've been used at a more dangerous target.
An alien mobile suit, previously hidden under camouflage netting, quickly activated and went into the attack. It picked up a vibro axe from a nearby weapon rack, and while still wrapped in camo netting, charged at me. I was caught off guard, acting entirely on instinct when instead of activating my beam shield, I dodged backwards. There wasn't even time to curse at myself for letting the enemy take the advantage, as the alien biped pressed his attack. Swing after swing, I only barely evaded, until after the fifth attack I noticed the alien had overextended. He had slashed towards the center, using his right arm swinging leftwards. With his right side exposed, I delivered a vicious kick to that side of the biped's torso. The alien mobile suit fell off balance, neither its pilot nor its automated systems able to recover quickly. In this moment of weakness, I was able to land a direct hit on the enemy's waist section, effectively bisecting the machine in half.
Having neutralized my attacker, I turned to see Rosen had also dispatched her own, having fired three shots in quick succession, though only one hit its mark.
"Gah, my aim's all over the place." The younger pilot grumbled.
"You're probably still not used to the Specter's rifle." I told her. "It's a whole different beast compared to the one you usually use."
"...yeah, you're right." She said, sounding a little down.
Given the revelation of her mother's fate... I realized she must've been quite attached to her Hroeger. It mightn't have been the exact same machine, but it was still a point of connection.
"Don't worry, I'm sure the squadron's doing fine." I said, trying to reassure her. "We'll get you back to your Hroeger in no time... but first, let's save Mister Fosh from these aliens."
"Right!"
-000-
Petrovsky watched the lone machine above no man's land fighting like hell. The vision he saw was... awe inspiring.
It was like an incarnation of death, moving like a blue, white, and red blur and relentlessly attacking the enemy. Every attack against the white machine was evaded, ineffective... pointless.
This avatar of war was damn near invincible.
"Sir!" One of his subordinates called out to him, incredulous and astonished at the sight above. "T-that's a..."
"A Gundam." Petrovsky finished.
A vicious smile formed in the Captain's face.
Across the Universal Century, the Gundam was a symbol of victory... a manifestation of the power to define the course of history.
One of them had appeared right before Petrovsky and his men.
This could only mean one thing.
Taking his radio, Petrovsky began dolling out orders to his Rangers.
"All forces, listen up!" He said. "The god of victory itself has just arrived on the battlefield! While the enemy is distracted by the Gundam in the sky, we're going to retake the forward defense line!"
The Guncarriers -which had been fighting in their mobile suit forms- quickly converted into their mobile armor mode, so that Petrovsky's Rangers could quickly mount up for the assault.
With the aliens' attention focused on the avatar of war in the sky, they were caught off guard by the sudden assault coming from the ground. The Guncarriers, as well as the handful of Hussar and Cataphract MBTs used by the reservists and CDF militias, quickly rolled out of the second defense line close to Baise Base's aircraft runways. The counterattack was as swift as it was vicious. Reservist and CDF MBTs fired as they moved, providing valuable suppressive fire so that the Guncarriers could reach the battle line and offload the Rangers.
Petrovsky and his rangers rushed into the forward trenches. Thanks to their combat hardsuits -normalsuits which were reinforced with bullet resistant plating- as well as bulletproof tactical shields, the Rangers were able to storm the trenchline, where the short distances let their... considerably less advanced weapons fight on equal footing.
The Rangers found out quickly that the enemy's personal shields were potent at range, but lost effectiveness the closer you were. When fired at close range, the M-66A3 Beowulf was able to crack their shields in only a few shots. The bullets would strike without having bled most of its energy, negating much of the enemy infantry's advantage. On top of this, the Company's second in command personally discovered that the enemy shields only reacted to fast moving projectiles when he rammed a bayonet right into what he assumed was the alien's gut.
Disciplined and well trained as they were, even the aliens couldn't properly react to the mass of Congressional Army Rangers who were bearing down on them. The fight devolved into a brutal melee as the Rangers fixed their bayonets and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The aliens themselves weren't found wanting, as many quickly armed themselves with one-handed axes.
As the infantry fought to the death in the trenches below, so too did the machines make battle above. Guncarriers and Hussars took up the front, battling the alien mobile suits and hovertanks while Cataphracts stayed at the rear to provide supporting fire.
Despite their superior numbers, the alien vehicles broke ranks first, with a few seeming to panic and fleeing the front. The infantry remained orderly, though they too retreated once they saw that their armored support were breaking. Petrovsky had to admit, he found it admirable how the aliens managed a fighting withdrawal to their armored vehicles. Lesser forces would've routed easily.
Off in the distance, from the enemy's rear lines, Petrovsky could see plumes of smoke and flames rise up. The aliens were taking hits in the back... which must've meant an allied unit was hitting them from behind. However, outside of the civilian transport flights ferrying the 77th Mobile Regiment, the Captain couldn't remember any allied units in the area that could be coming to their assistance...
Though then again, he didn't remember any units in the area that had Gundams in their roster either.
With the current lull in the fighting thanks the enemy's tactical withdrawal, Petrovsky gave the current situation some deeper thought.
The appearance of a Gundam was already unexpected, but the enemy taking hits from an as yet unidentified foe in the rear was even more surprising. This all pointed to something much bigger plans currently at play, though without knowing more details the Captain couldn't be sure what exactly those were. The only thing he felt confident about was that the situation was slowly starting to turn to the Congressional Forces' advantage.
A grim smile formed in Petrovsky's face.
Those poor alien bastards. They were definitely in for it now.
-000-
Attacking the enemy's rearline was definitely the right thing to do, but that didn't change the fact that we've put ourselves in a precarious situation.
The Specter Gundam went through coolant like no other mobile suit I've seen before. The user manual that Director Eilling gave us mentioned that this was because the Specter used Mass Effect Impulse thrusters for propulsion, as opposed to a conventional chemical propellant thruster. That was to say, we had near limitless flight capabilities, hampered only so long as the cooling system could stop the Specter from burning up inside. This normally wouldn't be an issue - the average mission time for a CSF mobile suit rarely goes beyond twelve hours, after all. The three of us running through Northern Deguo for almost an entire week should be considered as out of the ordinary.
We did everything we could to slow the coolant's spoilage, and it barely let us get this far. By engaging in combat like this, the three of us were rapidly burning through what's left of our coolants. Soon enough, we'd be in the red and the automatic regulator would kick in, limiting our machine's performance to avoid overheating.
It was after we had just fought off what felt like the ninth batch of alien machines that Rosen and I got what we felt was a reprieve. Cold sweat broke on my brow after quick glance at the coolant indicator.
The meter was dangerously low. Running calculations in my head, I figured that I had maybe a few minutes left before the limiters kicked in.
I had to deal with this soon.
"Rosen, how's the status on your Gundam's coolant?"
"It's uh..." The younger pilot trailed off. "Oh, that's not good!"
"Looks like we're both in pretty dire straights now." I said. "We're going to have to do a coolant change at Baise Base."
"B-but... Mister Fosh and his planes!" Rosen pointed out. "We're nowhere near close to clearing the way for him! He doesn't have too much fuel left. If we don't destroy the enemy's anti-air guns now..."
"It's not like we can." I stressed. "Not in our current condition."
Rosen didn't argue further, but I could still tell she was feeling immensely pressured. To be honest, I felt it too... but I couldn't let her know that. If I frayed as well, I feared the younger pilot would fall into panic.
The two of us made a mad dash towards Baise Base' airfield, bypassing the few enemy units in our way. As we ran by, I called Verns over the battle network.
"Rosen and I are headed to the base." I told him. "Our coolants are at critical levels. Can you call up the base commander and ask for a coolant swap?"
"Way ahead of you." He quickly replied, a smug tone in his voice. "Colonel Knapfstein already gave the orders to his flight technicians, they should be ready for us any second now."
I can already imagine the kind of expression he was making, having beat me to the punch.
"Right... we're already on our way!"
The two of us didn't dare take to the skies, fearing that it'd just speed up the degradation of the coolant fluids. We quite literally made our machines run for it, each step our Gundams took quaking the ground around us. We burst from the enemy rear line and onto their front, which evidently caught the aliens off guard. They were lucky that we were in no condition to fight... I could only imagine how much damage Rosen and I could do.
Our entry seemed to cause some panic among the enemy's frontline, as they dispersed in a rather chaotic fashion. It's thanks to this lucky break that we were able to reach the allied force's rear lines without much trouble. As we slowed down our machines to a steady marching pace, a handful of CDF vehicles moved to secure our flanks and rear. They were a handful of Flytrap SPAAs as well as the older Bison IFVs created a wall of moving steel.
"Alright space jockey, follow us and we'll take you to the coolant trucks!"
The squadron of armored vehicles lead us towards one of the hangars, where Verns and his Gundam was already waiting.
"What took you so long?" He joked.
"Took the scenic route." I shot back.
Just as Rosen and I reached the hangar's front door, the warnings flashed on my cockpit HUD, warning that our coolants were all but spoiled. The limiters quickly kicked in, dropping the Specter's already degraded performance even lower. I could only thank the automatic balancer program for quickly stopping my Gundam from tripping over and falling.
"Woah, looks like we got here just in time!" Rosen commented, as the performance limiters in her own Gundam kicked in right after mine did.
"Thank God for that." Verns sighed in relief. "The coolant trucks should arrive any moment now, let's get inside and-"
"No can do on that!" A different voice cut in. His battle network tag ID'd him as Colonel Knapfstein himself. "Sunfish Flight is just about BINGO fuel! There's no time to go through the standard procedures, so you'll have to do an emergency coolant swap as soon as the trucks arrive!"
Realizing the stakes, the three of us quickly set our Gundams down on one knee while the armored vehicles around us set up a perimeter. The control panels on the Specter Gundam turned out to be very similar to the Gunstrike's, so it was easy enough for me to find the coolant purge and low power mode switch. A panel on the rear skirt armor opened, revealing a port which itself unsealed, sending a stream of spoiled, sludge black coolant out. Despite our situation, I couldn't help but think of how awkward an image it must've been, to see these giant humanoid machines dumping... waste fluids out the back.
Normally, the coolant would've been siphoned off so that it could be recycled. Even in their spoiled state, with proper treatment around a third of the fluid could be recovered and reused again. After siphoning the old coolant, a fresh batch would then be pumped into the machine, after which it would be combat ready once more. This was a universal process, which other mobile suit models also had to go through. That being said, the Specter Gundam relied on its cooling system far, far more than the older models.
I felt the tightness in my chest loosen slightly as I spotted three coolant trucks barrel around the corner and into view. With how they were driving, I was pretty sure they breaking more than a few base regulations. The trucks screeched to a halt extremely close to us, leaving skidmarks on the concrete road. The truck that was meant for my machine had stopped so dangerously close, there must've been less than a meter between my Gundam's leg and the truck's front grill.
The crew quite literally jumped into action, rushing out of their trucks and preparing their equipment to start the coolant refill. I watched as the coolant indicator slowly went up from zero, but it felt excruciatingly slow. I impatiently tapped away at my control sticks, watching restlessly... completely helpless.
This feeling was only reinforced when enemy fighters streaked through the sky above us. Gun and rocket fire rained from the sky, the enemy aircraft were doing what they could to try and strike us down while we were vulnerable. They were brave for trying, but the circle of SPAAs simply wouldn't let them through. The Flytrap SPAAs opened up with their beam vulcan guns, forcing the enemy fighters to evade and throwing off their aim.
"Gundam team, if you're ready, then please launch now!" Colonel Knapfstein's stressed voice spoke over the battle network. "Sunfish flight will be on final approach soon!"
"Wait, we're not done pumping the coolant!" One of the ground crew yelled back. "Just a little bit more!"
Checking on the coolant indicator again, and I saw that the ground crewman was right. The meter said that the coolant tanks were already over 80% full. With a little more time, all three of our Gundams would be operating at peak strength... it was a dangerous gamble, to keep up the refilling process for a little while longer. If the CDF vehicles slipped up, there's every chance that one of our Gundams could get damaged. The temptation to press the emergency stop button and take off was immense, compounded even further when another squadron of enemy fighters came in for an attack run. This group was more daring than the last... or perhaps suicidal might be the right word. The alien planes came in low and fast, their fire landing significantly closer than the previous bunch, but this also meant the CDF's SPAAs had an easier time shooting back. Out of the eight alien fighters that went on the attack run, half were shot down. One of them streaked right over my machine, a trail of fire and smoke covering the sky behind it before it crashed just behind the hangar close to us.
"Christ!" Verns yelled out.
"Gundam team, we're running out of time!" I once again heard over the battle network. "Please take off now!"
"Wait just a bit..." The ground crew trailed off, before a ping from my HUD notified me that the coolant refilling process was complete. "We're done!"
As quickly as the crew had rushed to start the coolant refilling process, they quickly disconnected the hose from our Gundams and quickly pulled their vehicles back. I could still see the coolant pumps winding down, with some of the pristine blue fluid spilling on the runway even as the trucks reversed in good order. The crew waved us up, signaling that they were done and that it was as safe as it could be for us to go.
Switching the Gundam back to full power mode, I could faintly feel the hum of the machine's reactor spool back into life. System indicators across the board rose up from minimum levels as the performance limiter disengaged itself, having detected that the Gundam's cooling system was back at peak capacity. The three of us brought our Gundams up from our kneeling positions, then all braced for launch.
"All right, now it's time we showed these aliens how it's done!" I declared. "This is Lieutenant Kreusgluck in Specter Unit 2, I'm taking off!"
"Rosen Spring, Specter Gundam Unit 3, heading out!"
"Lieutenant Hedder, Specter Unit 1, Launching!"
At once, the three of us jumped into the air. With the hybrid Minovsky/Mass Effect flight system quickly kicking in, we rapidly gained altitude and speed, rocketing straight over the battlefield at ridiculous speed. Now without the looming threat of overheating and self destruction dangling over us, we three were more than happy to bring down the full force of our abilities on the enemy.
-000-
Colonel Abrudas cursed her luck as she watched those three Spirits-damned machines take to the sky again. Unbelievably, their performance had seemingly tripled since they were last in action. From her command vehicle, she watched from a distance as those three machines tore through Coalition lines, obliterating and scattering formations. This, in addition to their mainly white and blue paint scheme struck true fear into the hearts of the Turians in the field.
Blue and white... the color of Turian blood and bone. The Humans didn't know it, but they've accidentally created a machine that appeared to be the mechanical manifestation of the Turian spirit of death.
"Orgus, call Captain Atanaxes!" Abrudas ordered the radio operator. "Tell him to move the biped teams back into the tree line before those... White Devils jump him!"
"Ma'am, Lieutenant Aurum is asking for permission to withdraw her tank platoon to Point Dagon!" The radio operator then said.
"Denied!" Abrudas quickly responded. "She needs to hold Point Charbal until Fourth Company can move up from the rear!"
Abrudas grit her teeth as reports rolled in of the mounting damages the White Devils was causing to the units holding the front. This, in combination with the enemy defenders going on the counteroffensive was threatening to route her entire brigade. It was an unacceptable situation to the Colonel. General Tantulas had personally entrusted her with the capture of this base - an extremely important mission, since this installation was almost single handedly holding the Navy at bay with the threat of ballistic missile attacks. Army and SNLF transports couldn't land directly in the Continent Two -Deguo, as the Humans called it- and had to first transit through the Xinzhou Continent. The added stress to Coalition supply lines was hampering the pacification of Deguo, which was already far behind schedule.
Also, the Turian Army's performance was lagging far behind the Navy's SNLF over the course of the land campaign, which certainly didn't help with Abrudas' stress.
"Ma'a-"
"What is it now?!" The Colonel angrily interrupted.
"Th-the Air Force is reporting that a situation is developing in Continent One, and that the next sortie will be the last we can all on for today." Orgus delivered the bad news.
That... was beyond terrible news! Her unit was barely making do with air support, and now she was expected to work without it? A dark voice in the back of Abrudas' mind screamed that she was being set up to fail, but she quickly smothered it. Now was not the time to entertain conspiracy theories. She had a battle to oversee and she had to focus now, more than ever.
"Tch, fine." Abrudas spat. "Then we'll have to make the most of this last sortie."
She looked through the holographic map in her command vehicle, trying to find a target that the Air Force had a higher chance of destroying.
Targets within the base itself, like munitions dumbs and supply posts, were entirely off the table. Between the small fleet of SPAAs and comprehensive network of fixed AA positions, the enemy's air defense network was too formidable. Launching two attacks against those three machines had cost them dearly, and for very little results to speak of. No, she'd have to focus the air strike on a more vulnerable target. Something that couldn't fight back.
She ran through the holographic map and recent intel reports, but couldn't find a single weakspot around the enemy base, or their frontline defenses... but she did find something else.
That transport flight she had placed as a low priority target earlier on. Abrudas figured that was the key.
Given this mountain base was rather remote, the Colonel was willing to bet that she could eventually degrade their capability enough that they'd be a no-factor. Moreover, Abrudas reasoned that the base couldn't have an infinite number of ballistic missiles. Since the Peltast SPAAs under her command had the range to shoot down the missiles as they launched, the Colonel came to the conclusion that merely keeping her foot pressed on the base's neck was good enough for the moment. Keep the boot pressed long enough, and they'd eventually starve or run out of ammo... though Abrudas intended to take the base well before it came to that.
Taking out those transports will be the first step in her new strategy to strangle this base into submission.
"Orgus, send a message to the Air Force." Abrudas ordered. "Redirect their fast movers to focus on the enemy 's incoming transports!"
"The transports, ma'am?"
"That's right, their transports." She confirmed. "If the Humans are going to be stubborn bastards about this, then we'll play that game."
-000-
With the three of us taking care of different parts of the frontline, the ground troops were able to stabilize their defense lines and push the enemy back to the starting line. We pushed the performance of our Gundams to the absolute limits, tearing apart the enemy's forces, scattering and making them easy prey for the Army and CDF troops to destroy.
On my section of the frontline, I faced off against three of the enemy's mobile suits. Their pilots were nothing to sneeze at, their coordination was spot on and they were damned good at what they were doing. The first of the bunch -with yellow tiger-style stripes all over his machine- stuck to me as close as he could, wielding two of axes to keep up a constant barrage of attacks. The second one -who painted parts of his armor in a black and blue stripes- would back up the first, blocking my attacks with his shield before counter-attacking with the sub-machinegun he used. The third -who had white dots- held the rear with his sniper, dissuading any potential intervention from my allies.
The one with yellow stripes continued his endless attacks. He moved like a veteran, swinging away in an almost graceful manner. I held on the defensive for now, studying the enemy's attack patterns and waiting for the perfect moment to destroy them... but it was in this moment that I realized something.
I had fought this one before. In the Battle of the Bullhead Line, there was an enemy mobile suit that had yellow stripes painted all over too. He was good, and might've been able to take me down if he was in a better machine. I thought I had killed him after I blew off the top half of his machine, but it seems like he must've successfully ejected right before my Gunstrike's vision was restored.
Yellow Stripes had gotten better. Granted, we've only battled once... but it was easy to see he had radically improved since I beat him last time. He was a lot more aggressive, having learned his flaws and compensated for it. Each strike was always followed up by another, and any gap in his assault was carefully calculated, allowing his wingmen to tag in while he recovered.
The three of them were impressively coordinated, and I could tell they've done this sort of thing plenty of times. I tried not to think about how many pilots they must've killed using this technique, seeing how confident and well practiced they were. This would be the last time they will use it in battle.
Holding out against the enemy's attacks wasn't easy, but it was a lot more doable with the power of the Specter, than it would've been with the Gunstrike. With how responsive the Gundam was evading three enemies at once was easy, giving me enough room to read into their tactics. I noticed that while Yellow Stripes and Blue Checkers were always well positioned to cover each other, White Dots at the back was usually left exposed. Since his position was much further back, he stood outside of his squad's protective umbrella. These three must've been banking on the idea that Yellow Stripes and Blue Checkers would distract their target enough that White Dots wouldn't need to protect himself.
Big mistake.
After identifying an opening, I jumped at the chance to fire on White Dots way at the back. Yellow Stripes had just finished a flurry of axe swings, having stepped back to recompose himself while Blue Checkers moved in with his shield raised. There was a small gap in their offensive, where Blue Checkers was still not yet fully engaged while Yellow Stripes was already in the back. It was merely a few seconds, but it was all I needed to raise my rifle, fire right between the two attacking mobile suits, right at White Dots. Since the sniper had set his mobile suit down on one knee to stabilize his aim, he was woefully unprepared to dodge the pink bolt of supercharged particles flying right at him. The beam shot went right through his chest armor, destroying the cockpit and no doubt killing the pilot instantly.
In that short moment I used to shoot at White Dots, Blue Checkers closed in and tried to hack at me with his axe. He knew that if I blocked his strike, Yellow Stripes would come in from the side and cut me apart.
However, locking blades with Blue Checkers also meant he couldn't get away in time. The beam rifle might've been too long and cumbersome to properly use in a knife fight like that... but I had more than just the beam rifle.
Just as I expected, Blue Checkers went in with an overhead swing. I played along, blocking his attack with my shield and saw from the corner of my eye that Yellow Stripes was getting ready to deliver the killing blow. Before that could happen, I ditched the beam rifle, throwing it off to the side and into the ground. With my right hand now free, I pressed a button which opened a waist mounted container. A beam saber hilt slid out, enough that I could grab it easily but not so much that it flew off the container entirely. With the Specter Gundam's insane performance, I was able to bring the saber's emitter right to Blue Checker's chest armor before he could even react. Being so close and in blade lock, he could never have pulled back in time, even if I were using the Gunstrike. With the push of a button, the beam saber I held at Blue Checker's chest ignited, piercing right through and vaporizing the pilot inside.
With Yellow Stripes coming in, I slashed outwards from Blue Checkers' chest, putting the beam saber right on the enemy ace's line of attack. Next, I ditched the shield from my left arm before quickly grabbing the beam saber from the left container. I tried to go straight for Yellow Stripes' cockpit with the left saber, but he batted my strike away with his axe at the last second. Pulling back my right saber, I launched a flurry of swings, all of which the enemy successfully defended against.
Our back and forth went on for a while. Despite the Specter's superior performance, the sheer aggression of Yellow Stripes' attacks kept me on the backfoot. The enemy attacked with zeal that bordered on suicidal fanaticism, regularly taking risks that any sane person would balk at. After every attack combo, Stripes threw himself almost immediately into another flurry of swings and slashes, doing everything he could to press his advantage. Eventually he overextended himself, letting me break the stalemate.
Yellow Stripes attacked with a powerful double downwards swing coming from both axes. I boosted backwards to evade the attack, then seeing that he was terribly out of position, leapt over him. Mid jump, I twisted my Gundam around so that I was facing him the moment I landed. The jump had happened so quickly, the enemy wasn't able to react in time. With a slash, I bisected his machine in half, though because the jump had slightly disoriented me I ended up missing his cockpit and slashed at his waist instead.
The top half of Yellow Stripes' mobile suit landed dead on the ground, and I was just about to land the finishing blow when an alert suddenly rang inside my cockpit. The quick lapse in focus was enough for Yellow Stripes to get away, as his unit's backpack section quickly purged itself before launching the cockpit out as a core fighter.
With Yellow Stripes down, I could turn my full attention towards the alert that rang out in my cockpit earlier. It was Mister Fosh, who had frantically sent another request for support... and it was easy to see why. An entire squadron of enemy fighters were streaking right towards his air convoy.
I cursed to myself. I was so caught up clearing the ground for the Super Garuda's final approach, I had forgotten that the enemy still had fighters in the sky.
They were too far off now, I wouldn't be able to intercept them without damage already being done.
Thankfully, I wasn't alone.
"Don't worry, I've got you covered Mister Fosh!" Rosen yelled out.
"I've got your back, Rosen!" Verns added.
The two of them, their Gundams much closer to the convoy of than I was, rocketed away at incredible speeds. Rosen went in guns blazing, firing her beam rifle at the enemy fighters, scattering the enemy and forcing a few of them to find a different attack vector. Verns chased after the fighters that had split off, destroying them one by one with precise shots each. Rosen chased away the rest, though she never strayed too far away from the line of Super Garudas. The two of them together broke the attacks against the air convoy, protecting them from further attacks. With the Congressional ground forces pushing hard against the aliens, a large enough opening had been opened that the Mister Fosh's flight could make their final approach.
"We can't wait any longer, we're running entirely on fumes!" Mister Fosh announced over the radio. "We're touching down on Runway A, please clear the way for us!"
The flight of Super Garudas didn't wait for confirmation from air traffic control... no, they simply couldn't. One by one, the giant aircraft landed at Baise Base. With how close the flight was to running completely empty, Mister Fosh quickly decided that there would only be a thirty second delay between each touchdown. No time for the other planes to take a holding pattern, not with the risk of them simply sputtering out of the sky being very real.
The first of the Super Garudas touched down at higher speeds than normal, owing to the steeper descent angle that it took. Its pilot quickly set the engines to reverse and raised the airbrakes the moment he made contact with asphalt. Assisting with deceleration were a set of forward pointed rocket motors, which fired up with the push of a button. The solid rocket fuel burned hot and fast, rapidly slowing down the first Super Garuda down to manageable speeds. Once that was done, the pilot then sharply turned the giant aircraft off of the runway and into the grass field beside. That's where the plane finally came to a halt.
Cargo doors to the front, rear, and sides of the Super Garuda quickly opened, revealing what it was carrying. To my astonishment, Congressional Army transports and armored vehicles quickly disembarked. These army grunts weren't underequipped reservists, but cream of the crop troops. A steady stream of Hussar MBTs, Rhino IFVs, Ferret Scout Vehicles, and even more transport trucks rolled out of the Super Garuda. I could tell these troops were still fresh, and the speed of their deployment only confirmed what I thought. The soldiers -of the 77th Mobile Regiment, as I'd later find out- rushed from the runways and straight towards the front line.
This amazing feet of piloting and organization was repeated twice over, as the next two Super Garudas landed and deployed the Army troopers in their cargo hold. The sight of reinforcements raised the morale of the defenders, who had spent the past several days fighting tooth and nail against a superior foe.
As I thought about it further, I then realized that if our Gundams had arrived even an hour later, it's very likely the Mister Fosh's flight wouldn't have made it. A wave of relief, satisfaction, and then determination bubbled up within me.
We changed the course of this battle. We stopped Baise Base from falling, and through that we may have very well saved the entire Deguan Continent too.
This... was the power of the Gundam.
-000-
Abrudas watched dumbly as the Human transports successfully landed in the very base she had been besieging. Her forces had been gutted, morale was in the pits, while the enemy had been reinforced. Needless to say, her gambit had failed spectacularly. A siege wouldn't be possible to persecute now, not when the enemy outnumbered hers and was fresh on the field.
The Colonel quietly cursed her luck before finally speaking again.
"Orgus, send out the withdrawal signal." Abrudas said, her fighting spirit all but withered.
"M-ma'am?" Orgus stammered out, unsure if his superior was serious.
"We've lost this battle." She weakly answered. "We don't have the strength to continue. Send out the withdrawal signal."
With the orders transmitted to all units, whatever was left of the brigade the Colonel led quickly fell back from their attack positions. It was a well executed and orderly withdrawal, with formations systematically leaving their positions instead of stampeding away from the front line. The sight of true Turian discipline warmed Abrudas' heart somewhat, a small silver lining given the circumstances.
Fortunately, the Humans didn't seem interested in pursuing. They stayed at their mountain base, content to savor the sweet taste of victory. Abrudas would've thanked the Humans for their honorable conduct, if it weren't for the fact they had just brutalized her forces.
At any rate, the Colonel had her command vehicle pack up their equipment and prepare to leave... but before they left, she had one last inquiry to her subordinates.
"Arius," Abrudas spoke to one of her electronic warfare officers. "Those three machines. Did the Humans have a name for them?"
Hearing the Colonel's question, the e-war officer paused packing up his work station and quickly checked the terminal for an answer. He ran through the communication logs that the electronic warfare VI had recorded into the system. The logs were transcripts of Human comms chatter that were intercepted and translated. Many of these weren't all that useful - they were good to get a read on the Human forces' general mood, but it was rare that the Turians could glean any actionable information from it. Arius suspected that the Humans were starting to figure out that the Coalition forces had deciphered their language, but until he had solid evidence as proof, it was merely speculation.
What wasn't up to much speculation was the answer to the Colonel's question. Reading into the logs, Arius noticed the repeated use of a particular word once those three bipeds showed up in the field. The word itself appeared to have no meaning... or at least nothing that can be translated into Palavish. Regardless, Arius gave Colonel Abrudas the answer she was looking for.
"Colonel... the three machines that reinforced the enemy." Arius started. "It's name is Gundam."
-000-
Author's Note: For those of you curious, Yellow Stripes first appeared in Episode 10. I intentionally left his fate in that episode vague since I wasn't sure at the time if I wanted him to stick around. Now I decided that I did, so here he is.
Anyways, this about marks the start of the war turning towards the Congressional Forces' favor. They've still got a long way to go before they can confidently claim that they're winning, but it's a start. As for how long that turnaround is going to take, I'm not sure. I'm currently torn between wrapping up the Gundam Team and Squadron 13's involvement in the planetary war by Episode 24, or giving it an extra two or three episodes with the return to space filling in the rest of the next arc. I'm currently leaning towards the first option for pacing's sake, but there are a bunch of stuff I want to write that wouldn't work very well with only 4 Episodes left in the current arc and not much space to do it justice.
Also at almost 10k words this might be the longest chapter I've ever written and published lol.
Also also, last chapter I challenged you guys to guess what 'Asset' Admiral Bardford was lugging around, but I didn't realize that AO3 didn't have a PM function when I did this. This is a bit of a faff since I'd like to privately contact the person who correctly answered to confirm some details without spoiling the answer lol. I'll figure something out, but for now if you answered in AO3 please keep your discord or FFNet profile handy. If you answered through an FFNet review, feel free to ignore this since I can just shoot a PM at you.
-000-
THIS WORK IS CROSSPOSTED IN FFNET AND AO3