Relevant notes will be at the end of the chapter
-000-
Mobile Suit/Mass Effect
Episode 22:
Homeland Burning
-000-
As it turns out, preparing for our next deployment was a rather quick affair. Verns, Rosen, and I barely had anything to pack in the first place, largely just making sure our Gundams were in tip-top conditions for the coming battle. A few spare uniforms were also given to us by the base crew, though none of us really liked wearing them... for different reasons each.
For Verns and I, we'd rather not wear Army uniforms. We were Space Force pilots, and it didn't quite feel right wearing another branch's uniform. Sure, we wore the regulation t-shirts they gave us, but for the most part we half-wore our usual normal suits, with the top unzipped and tied around our waists.
For Rosen... well, none of the uniforms fit her properly. It was an oddly comforting thing, I suppose... that the Army didn't have any uniforms that fit underaged teens.
As for Petrovsky and his Rangers, they didn't take too long to pack up and load into the Super Garudas. As it turns out, they were supposed to deploy to Xinzhou before Long Mountain went dark and Yuu Liang Spaceport was lost. Because of this, they were pretty much in a state where they were ready to redeploy at any moment.
At the end of it all, the Super Garudas took off at dusk a mere two days after we had fended off the attack on Baise Base. Together with the course that Mister Fosh had charted, it was hoped that the night time flight would take them through Deguo's airspace unnoticed by the enemy. Of the five Super Garudas that Mister Fosh had pledged, one had its massive cargo space fitted with mid-air refueling tanks for the other giant planes. All in all, everyone felt fairly confident we could avoid a repeat of the emergency landings that the Super Garudas had to pull off a few days ago.
I tried to get myself some sleep, but to no avail. I'd get an hour of shuteye before being woken up again, only to repeat the process every time I tried sleep again.
After a while, I gave up. Getting up from the little cot I had laid out in a corner of the massive aircraft's hangar, I saw that some work lights were still up and that the cockpit in Rosen's machine was wide open. Quietly, I climbed up the MS scaffold and took a look at what was going on.
I had worried for a moment that someone was tampering with the Gundam, but was instantly relieved to find out that it was merely the young pilot. She appeared to be tinkering with her Gundam's settings.
"Hey, couldn't sleep either, huh?" I asked.
The young pilot had been so engrossed in her work, she hadn't even realized I was there. She yelped a bit when she herd my voice and jumped at her seat.
"Ah, Lieutenant!" Rosen stammered out. "Y-yeah... it's nerves, I guess."
I nodded as she said that.
"It's strange, though." She continued, nervously fiddling with the buttons on her control sticks. "I must've gone on over a dozen sorties at this point... but I never really felt nervous like this before a battle."
"Yeah... I feel the same way." I sighed. "Haven't felt this nervous since I graduated the academy. Must be the pressure."
"The pressure?"
"Yeah." I shrugged. "I mean... fighting out in space is to protect Shanxi is one thing, but on the ground? Seeing the people that depend on you suffering because of your failures? It's... harder to shove that to the back of your mind and focus."
"The three of us piloting three machines that look like they came straight out of legend certainly doesn't help." A familiar voice cut in. "Imagine that, the first Gundams to show up in decades, and we're the ones piloting them."
I looked to the side and saw Verns had decided to join the conversation. He brought with him a pitcher and three mugs.
"Couldn't find any coffee in the pantry." He said. "Found some of those instant tea packets though."
Verns handed each of us a mug before pouring some of the tea for us. I took a sip of the tea, tasting it... and found it to be painfully average. When Verns saw the expression on my face, he rolled his eyes behind his goggles.
"Look, tea's not my specialty, okay? If you want that artisan stuff, go talk to Captain Ren."
"You know what? I think I'll do just that." I said jokingly. "Transferring to the Monty once this whole war business is over might be good for my health."
To that, Rosen perked up.
"You're staying in the military after the war?" The young pilot asked.
"Eh, kinda, sort of..." I shrugged once more. "My contract is still up for another two years. After that... I dunno. I might go back to Arcturus and finally get a college degree like my dad's been pestering me to get."
"I see..." Rosen said, a little sullen.
She tapped on her mug as she contemplated something. The young pilot looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to say it. Eventually, Verns was the one to continue the conversation.
"What about you, Rosen?" He asked. "Do you have any plans for after all of this is over?"
Rosen froze at that question, looking away from the two of us.
"I... never really thought of it, to be honest." She said. "I've been with Golden Beacon all my life... but when this whole war is over, Golden Beacon won't have a reason to exist anymore."
She must've been referring to the deal made to get Golden Beacon on our side. I didn't think much of it at first, but dwelling into it now... Rosen was right. The organization would've functionally gotten everything it wanted, short of total independence itself. With the CDF likely to be raised to a proper standing army, Golden Beacon really didn't need to exist as a military force.
A quick thought on disbanding Golden Beacon's military arm left me rather worried. The secessionist organization employed a lot of men and women... children too. Many of them would've been in there for all their lives, and I doubt all of them would find long term employment in the CDF... Where would they go after they've been relieved of duty? I didn't like where these thoughts were going.
Glancing at Verns, I saw that he had realized the same thing... but where my first reaction was that of concern, his was of anger. His grip on his mug had tightened, his jaw clenched. Verns was furious.
I remembered then, that he hated Golden Beacon with a burning passion. He must be thinking about how Oswin had essentially raised Rosen to be nothing but a soldier, and how she was going to be discarded when the time came.
The two of us came to a silent agreement. We'd have to be the ones to save Rosen from Golden Beacon.
How that would happen... Well, we'll handle that at a later date.
-000-
We were on the last stretch of the flight to Port Tsingtao. Things had been relatively quiet so far, with the flight getting bumpy only when we had to fly through storm clouds. Beyond that, it had been smooth sailing.
Now though, it was time for action.
"This is Lieutenant Hedder, Gundam Team is taking off!" Verns announced.
The rear cargo hatch to our Super Garuda opened, letting the light of dawn creep into the giant plane's cargo bay. Verns was first out. The large cargo pallet that his Gundam stood on was magnetically launched backwards, taking him out of the plane and into the sky. His flight systems quickly engaged afterwards, keeping him in the air trailing just behind the Super Garuda. I was next, then Rosen last.
Far to our left, another of the Super Garudas were flying much lower. Once their rear hatches opened, three Guncarriers were ejected backwards, which fell for quite a distance before parachutes packs blew open and slowed their descent. Those three were to stay perched up far away from the fighting, providing long ranged fire support with their heavy cannons. The other nine Guncarriers remained in their respective Super Garudas, continuing their flight so that they and the Army Rangers they carried could be dropped closer to the fighting.
"Alright." Verns started. "We'll provide air cover for the Super Garudas for now. Once we've linked up with the ground forces, we'll turn our attention to the enemy's forward bases and supply centers. If we take those out, we can keep the enemy at bay. Hopefully long enough for Commodore Pike and Bullow to come back."
"You make it sound so easy!" I joked. "Oh yeah, just the three of us. We'll definitely send them running!"
We had to stow the conversation for now, as a group of enemy fighters were bearing down on us.
"Enemies incoming to our left!" Rosen called out.
"Intercept and engage!"
The three of us broke off from the air convoy and flew off to attack the enemy attackers. With our superior mobility and firepower, it was a given that we'd swat them out of the sky easily. Fighter after fighter was blasted apart, as we took them apart with our beam rifles. One brave alien pilot broke off from his formation to try and attack Verns... only for the leader of the Gundam Team to turn and kick the fighter right in the cockpit. He later emerged from the explosion completely unharmed, regrouping with Rosen and I as we returned into formation.
"That's the first wave done with!" He said.
"Things are looking good so far..." Rosen commented.
"True, but let's not get careless!"
A few more intercept attempts were made by the enemy, but these faced similar results. In their desperation, one enemy pilot even tried to ram himself into the leading Super Garuda after Rosen shredded his engines with her beam vulcans, though fortunately his fighter's wings snapped before he could make contact. The rest of the enemy were just as relentless, probably having realized that we were coming to reinforce the city. I didn't begrudge them wanting to avoid a repeat of what happened at Baise Base, though that didn't mean I was going to cut them any slack.
It was only after what felt like the sixth wave of enemy fighters that we finally linked up with the defenders of Port Tsingtao. A trio of Army Gunfighters, with their built in Minovsky flight systems, finally reached and keyed us into the battle network.
"Well, I'll be!" The leading Gunfighter's pilot exclaimed. "I knew we were getting reinforced, but I didn't think an actual freakin' Gundam would actually show up!"
"You're shittin' me, did you say a Gundam is coming to back us up?"
"A Gundam?! A real life Gundam?!"
The cacophony of voices continued as more and more of the defenders were made aware of our presence. I couldn't help but let out a smile as the boots on the ground had their spirits lifted by our mere appearance. Now, with the three of us here, they believed they could win.
A lot of uncertainty still hovered in the air, but I still knew one thing for certain - this wasn't going to be a repeat of Yuu Liang Spaceport.
-000-
"Three Gundams, you say?" General Tantulas asked, his unusually high pitched voice steady and firm despite the threat that just materialized. "The same ones that Colonel Abrudas reported?"
"We have no way to verify, but the description matches the images that the Colonel sent." His aide answered. "It's not impossible."
Tantulas held back a growl as he realized how dangerous this turn of events was for his operation.
"Initiate Contingency 33." The General declared. "Call up Colonel Corinthus of the 2nd SNLF Group and tell him to prepare his veteran pilots for combat. Once we have those three machines pinned down, I want his forces to swoop in and finish the job!"
-000-
With the Gunfighters now screening the Super Garudas' final approach, we Gundam pilots were free to peel off and engage the enemy at our leisure. However, as we moved to put Verns' admittedly open ended plan into motion, we were made aware of just how massive this battle was. There might've been a little over thirty thousand or so allied troops on the ground, while the enemy had close to triple that number.
"Good God..." I whispered to myself.
It turns out Rosen was wrong after all. What we faced at Baise Base wasn't the entire enemy army...
This was.
"Stay calm, don't panic." Verns quickly clamped down. "Do as we planned and it'll all work out."
That was easier said than done. Alarms rang out in my cockpit, warning that the enemy was trying to get a radar lock.
"Ground targets are trying to get a radar lock on us!"
"Break and engage!"
A barrage of surface-to-air missile launched from the ground. There must've been dozens of them, appearing like a wall of fire and steel chasing us. We shot the bulk of them down and charged downwards, engaging the enemy's anti-air vehicles before they could launch a second barrage. The streets of Port Tsingtao looked like a scene from one of those history documentaries that Verns liked to watch so much. Much of the city's buildings were intentionally modeled after Classical European architecture from the mid 20th Century AD. Standing here, it struck me that this must've been what sparked my friend's fondness of learning history. It felt surreal, seeing all these buildings that didn't look out of place from an age long since passed become the background to our battle against the aliens. The enemy SPAAs that we were going after did their best to try and flee, reversing to evade our attacks... but the missile launchers that the SPAAs were towing proved to be a hindrance, especially in the rather narrow brick roads of Port Tsingtao. We practically wiped them out, though a few of the vehicle crew were able to escape.
We regrouped in the ruins of the enemy's anti-air position, in a small bombed out park. We were formulating a new plan of attack when we received word from commander of the defenders of Port Tsingtao.
"Gundam Team, can you read me?" The man said. "This is Brigadier General Neidhard Muller, in command of the 303rd Division and other Congressional Forces defending the city."
"This is Lieutenant Verns Hedder, of the Congressional Space Forces." Verns answered for us. "We read you loud and clear, General."
"Splendid." Muller said before continuing. "I've already been briefed on the capabilities of your mobile suits by Director Eilling. For the duration of this operation, I'd like to place your team under my personal command for the duration of this operation."
While General Muller worded his sentence as though it was a request, it was quite clear to all of us that these were orders. The thought of having to take orders from Army guys was... less than ideal, but it was something we'd have to put aside for now. Hopefully the General would have a better idea of what we should do over the vague plan Verns had came up with earlier.
"Understood, Sir." Verns confirmed, aligning with my sentiment. "Where are we needed?"
"The enemy is currently launching a full scale assault across the entire frontline. We can't hold with our current strength, so we're pulling back to a new defensive line. Right now, your mission is to make sure the withdrawal goes as planned." Muller lined out. "I want you to focus your efforts around the Lennenkampf Memorial Park and Silverberch Mall. The 87th Shanxi Guards CDF Regiment and 556th Army Mechanized Battalion are both in the area. Both you and the 75th Rangers' Able Company will act as a rearguard while the forces withdraw. How you do that, I'll leave to your discretion... Oh, and before I forget, I've cleared you three for rearm and resupply at Ansbach Spaceport."
"Aye sir, consider it done." Verns said.
-000-
Corporal Schoenkopf hunkered down behind a ruined car just as a fusillade of bullets ripped through the air where his head used to be. His squad was pinned down, engaged in a firefight against enemy infantry and light vehicles. The Ferret scout vehicle that was supposed to provide close fire support was out of action, and laid out on the ground covered in bandages were its crew.
Suffice to say, things weren't going well.
"Steinmetz, give Kruger some suppressive fire!" Schoenkopf ordered.
Almost immediately, his subordinate that carried the squad's LMG pivoted to the right and let loose a barrage of bullets at the incoming enemy. Private Kruger, who had been stuck in a bad position, took the chance to scamper off to a more defensible spot.
"Haldermann, what's the word on evac?" Schoenkopf then called to another subordinate.
"Still no word from Company HQ!" The radioman answered.
The Corporal cursed his luck. His squad were fighting tooth and nail at the parking lot of the Silverberch Mall. Abandoned and ruined cars were strewn about, providing ample material for Schoenkopf and his army troopers to create adhoc fortifications. The young Corporal didn't think twice about smashing into the car windows and hotwiring them so that he could move them around - their owners would surely understand. However, after rebuffing what was probably a dozen or so different infantry attacks, the enemy began moving in their armored vehicles. APCs and tanks were starting to show up in force, and Schoenkopf worried that it would only be a matter of time before the enemy started channeling mobile suits to stomp them out. He knew that General Muller had given the order to pull back to the new defensive line, but the enemy had been attacking relentlessly. Schoenkopf simply couldn't find the opportunity to withdraw his squad, which lead to his request for evac in the form of Rhino IFVs.
That request was sent out hours ago.
"Damnit!" The corporal cursed. "We're pulling back into the mall's parking structure! Activate the timer on those explosives and hightail it!"
One of Schoenkopf's subordinates quickly slammed his fist on a big red button, which then caused a timer to start ticking down. The squad of went on a fighting retreat, doing their best to bait the enemy into their trap. Thankfully, Schoenkopf and his men made it into the safety of the parking structure in time, as the Corporal dove into cover right as the timer ran out. Powerful explosions rocked the ground beneath the Army Troopers, taking with it the enemy that had overextended. With the cars used for cover obliterated, the enemy occupying the parking lot was now woefully exposed to gunfire.
But as the fire and smoke subsided, the aliens made it clear that they had no intention of backing down. Quite the opposite was true, as alien armored vehicles rolled in, their formation spearheaded by their mobile suits.
"Aw hell..." The Corporal muttered, staring down the barrel of the alien machine.
Schoenkopf froze up, watching as the enemy mobile suit braced to fire its weapon. He wouldn't be able to run in time. Nor was his cover strong enough to withstand an attack of that caliber.
He was done for.
He was dead.
Or he would've been, if a pink beam hadn't suddenly struck the alien machine from the side. The mobile suit standing before him exploded in a ball of fire, with the remains of the machine toppling over to the side. Alien infantry and vehicles scattered, searching for what cover they could as more beam bolts rained down from the sky. Shot after shot dismantled the enemy spearhead, taking down tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, even dismounted troops. Only the two other enemy mobile suits survived the initial barrage, as they quickly hunkered behind their shields the moment fire rained from above.
In response to this challenge, the machines that had come to the rescue of Schoenkopf and his men descended, revealing themselves to the army troopers.
What they saw shook them.
"Sir!" One of the privates yelled out. "I-it's... it's a Gundam!"
They watched as one of the Gundams quickly took apart the alien machines. One swept down and swatted aside the enemy's shield before driving its beam saber straight through the enemy mobile suit's chest. Another came in fast and low, bracing before delivering a vicious sidekick which launched the alien machine into a nearby building. The third then came in on the side, attacking the other vehicles with rapid and precise shots. In less than a minute, the three Gundams halted the enemy attack and forced them to retreat.
One of those Gundams then turned to Schoenkopf and his men.
"You boys okay?" The man piloting the machine said, his voice coming out from the Gundam's outward speakers.
Shaken from his stupor, the corporal quickly stammered out a response.
"Y-yeah, thank you!" He said.
"Just doing our jobs." The pilot said nonchalantly. "We saw a few Rhinos while on approach, they'll probably arrive shortly. Stay safe, all of you."
With that, the machines left as abruptly as the arrived. They took off into the sky, flying towards a different part of the battlefield where they were needed.
"Godspeed, Gundam." Schoenkopf quietly prayed.
-000-
"Ramirez!" Petrovsky yelled for his most trusted subordinate. "Take Candy Van and secure the MacDaniels! We have to hold this place until the regular forces can withdraw to the second line!"
The sound of gunfire echoed through the streets of Lennenkampf Park, a recreational area close to one of the more affluent suburb districts in Port Tsingtao. It had everything a Tsingtaoan family might want for recreation. Family restaurants, shopping centers, a movie theater and arcade, a sport center. Right now though, the park was an active warzone. At 14 square kilometers, it was wide and open - the perfect place for a pitched battle between two mechanized units.
"Yes sir!" Ramirez answered.
With cover from the Guncarrier, Ramirez and his squad made their way towards the boarded up burger joint which was currently occupied by a squad of aliens. The MacDaniels staff had boarded up the diner before closing down, and this provided ample concealment for anyone occupying the establishment. The aliens had cut a few holes into the boarded up windows, gunports that they could shoot out of while remaining hidden from their enemies. However, wooden boards make for poor protection against modern firearms and sensors. With the RADAR system that the Guncarriers had, Candy Van was able to pick out where the enemy were hunkered down. All it took was a quick swoop with the 20mm Autocannons to clear out the entrance. Ramirez and his Rangers were quick to follow up, throwing a flashbang grenade inside before storming the diner, ballistic shields raised and guns blazing as they went.
The speed and ferocity of the Rangers quickly dislodged the aliens in the restaurant. Alien infantry quickly filed out the rear entrance, quickly running across the street before taking cover in the treeline. Now it was Ramirez and his soldiers who had the better position, considering that concrete walls made for better protection than trees in an otherwise open field. Alien and Human soldiers engaged in a prolonged fight, with the sound of their gunfire occasionally drowned out by the deafening roar of Candy Van's 208mm Railcannon and arm mounted beamguns.
As the firefight dragged on, one of the younger Rangers turned to Ramirez and joked.
"Hey Sarge, when Army recruiters first got to you, did you ever think we'd be fighting aliens while holed up in a Maccey's?"
"No, but if I did I'd have told the recruiter I had a few screws loose in the head!" Ramirez joked in return.
Ramirez and his squad continued to hold their ground, fighting off wave after wave of infantry attacks from inside the MacDaniels. When enemy air support started strafing their attack runs, a pair of rangers quickly volunteered to climb to the roof to provide short ranged air defense with the Stungle MANPAD launcher. Between Candy Van's 20mm autocannons and the Stungle launcher on the roof, the aliens were denied the air supremacy they needed for an aggressive counterattack.
Still, the enemy wasn't giving up. If anything else, they began to redouble their efforts on the ground. Armored vehicles started to roll into the park, dropping off infantry and providing direct fire support. Their attack was aggressive, and even Candy Van was struggling to hold them back.
"Captain, they're coming on us hard!" Ramirez shouted into his radio. "We've got a company sized force bearing on us... lots of armor, lots of infantry... this looks like the big push!"
"Acknowledged." Petrovsky responded. "Hold tight, I'll get you some back up."
The tidal wave of aliens continued, held in check only by the sheer firepower Candy Van's weaponry could pour out. As the firefight intensified, Ramirez worried if his squad could hold out for much longer. The Maccey's he was in was already being torn to bits, and it wouldn't take much more effort to bring the entire building down on his head. It was when thinks looked just about over for the Sergeant, with the aliens having pushed to a few meters away from the MacDaniel's, that the promised reinforcements arrived.
One of the three Gundams had arrived to save the day, blasting apart the enemy machines and scattering their infantry. It landed on the ground, its momentum carrying forward in a slide as it activated one of its beam sabers and cut an enemy mobile suit in half. The Gundam quickly kicked itself up from the ground, flipping over a second alien mobile suit and slashing off its head. It finally came to a stop right on an enemy tank, stomping and crushing it.
The enemy attack stopped for a moment, stunned by the appearance of the white machine. The fighting resumed shortly after the aliens recomposed themselves, but they proved unable to fight the white, blue, and red blur of death that was the Gundam. Eventually, they retreated, having been gored by the mobile suit's intervention.
"Holy shit..." Ramirez stared at the metal god of war that just saved him and his boys.
"Whoa, that was close, wasn't it?" A teenager's voice came from the Gundam's outward speakers. "Did I get them in time?"
The teenager, that must've been the kid's Gundam then. Ramirez remembered meeting her a few times at the mess hall in Baise Base. The Sergeant found her to be quite endearing... once he got over the child soldier aspect of her, that is.
"Yeah!" Ramirez shouted out, unsure if Rosen could hear him. "Saving our asses is starting to be a regular thing for you, huh?"
"Aw, don't be like that! I'm sure you guys can return the favor some day!" Rosen said back, before pausing for a moment. "Ack, they need me somewhere else! Sorry, Sergeant Ramirez. We'll catch up again later!"
Rosen's Gundam waved goodbye before took off, leaving Ramirez and his men... no doubt to save the sorry asses of other soldiers just like him.
-000-
We've been putting out fires all over the city for what felt like hours at this point, but things weren't getting any better.
Though we were slowing down the enemy advance with small victories here and there, they wouldn't stop coming. Even as the CDF and Army forces rallied in the new, tighter defensive line, they wouldn't stop coming. Alien forces kept up their relentless assault in an almost desperate fashion, as if this battle was their 'make or break' moment. This feeling lit a small beacon of hope among the allied forces - the idea that they day would be ours if we could weather the storm was all that was keeping us going... but the storm was as intense as it could get.
Already, a major breakthrough threatened the second line's center. The enemy's schwerpunkt -composed of their heavy armor and mobile suits- were forcing their way through the Oberstein Highway. If they succeeded, they could potentially push all the way towards Ansbach Spaceport, effectively splitting the allied forces into two and putting our most important supply center to the sword.
In response, Verns, Rosen, and I regrouped after taking on targets individually so that we could combine our firepower and break the enemy's momentum. The three of us blasted, slashed, and raised hell along the enemy's vanguard, blunting their attack... but we also played right into their plans.
The enemy feigned weakness, pulling back and setting out their bait... bait that in a lapse of judgement, we fell for. As the three of us pursued the enemy, intent on dealing as much damage as we could before they could regroup, the enemy sprung their traps.
Smoke shells fell around us, spewing out a sort of red cloud that obscured even thermal sights. Soon enough, direct shellfire hit us from multiple directions, pinning us down.
"Damnit, we've been had!" Verns cursed. "Activate LIDAR vision, now!"
It was a good thing that Verns had made the call so quickly, because without the LIDAR overlay I seriously doubted we could've withstood the coming onslaught.
The LIDAR sensors handily created a vague outline of the incoming enemy mobile suits, which came at us with blistering speed. We could only barely block their attacks in time was they swarmed us, attacking again and again, trying to break through our defense. Their unceasing attacks continued for what felt like an eternity, slowly chipping away at our defenses... until finally the smoke cleared, and we could fully understand what we had gotten into.
Surrounding us was maybe two dozen alien mobile suits surrounding us, but they didn't look quite like the ones we knew. They looked similar, sure, but not quite the same. Their armor was slimmer, there were extra thrusters on the legs and backpack, and energy emitters that I recognized from their shields were welded into their torsos. Notably, none of them carried shields. Their weapons also were modified, with more than a few carrying swords which appeared to be crafted by mounting blades into vibro-axe handles.
These were no ordinary mobile suit pilots.
"These guys..." I gritted out, eyeing them as they stood their ground waiting for an opening to strike. "These are aces!"
-000-
Larian panted hard as he slowly took stock of their failure.
When he first got word of these 'Gundams that the Humans were rolling out and what they could do, he immediately went to work devising a plan to snuff them out.
Of course, he didn't have any solid data on their specifications... or any first hand experience facing them, for that matter... but he knew they had to be destroyed before they could do irreversible damage to the expedition.
The solution, the Lieutenant figured, was to simply overwhelm the Gundams with as many attacks as physically possible. After blinding the enemy's vision, Larian and his best subordinates would attack, attack, and attack until the enemy was annihilated. He calculated that even Human aces, no matter how skilled they were, would not be able to withstand such a storm of attacks.
But the power of the Gundams were beyond even his wildest expectations.
Of course, that was to be expected when that ace pilot was the one behind the controls... Larian wasn't sure how, but he just knew it. The pilot of the leading Gundam was the same one from that ace biped he met in the spaceport. The energy... the pressure he was exuding was the exact same. There was just no way Larian could explain it without sounding like a crazy person.
All this served to do was complicate the situation even more. Ambushing and destroying the Gundams would've been a difficult task in of itself, fighting it after the element of surprise had subsided even more so. Knowing that an enemy ace was in control made this a damn near impossible task.
Damnit all. Larian would have to put his faith on his subordinates, as well as the machines they piloted.
Larian grit his teeth and pushed his new machine forward, leading the attack against the enemy. He piloted the Arma Gigas Lancea, a unit that featured stripped down armor and more powerful maneuvering thrusters. These were originally field modifications meant for his personal team -something to give him and his wingmen a fighting edge- but was rapidly adopted by other units who had the means to implement the modifications. Now, the Gigas Lancea gave its pilots a slight advantage in mobility against the average Human biped machines... but against the Gundams? The lieutenant didn't like his odds.
The bipeds of the 2nd SNLF threw themselves at the Gundams with renewed ferocity. They knew that with their initial attack having failed, this was now a battle of attrition. The chance to decisively destroy the Gundams were now lost, they would have to chip at their defenses slowly, trying to break through to deliver the killing blow. The pilots of the 2nd SNLF group were undoubtedly the best biped pilots in the Turian Military. Larian was sure, if anyone could bring down the Gundam, it would be them...
The problem was... could any of them survive long enough to get the chance?
-000-
Far from Port Tsingtao, but closing rapidly, the three ships of Squadron 13 -Risima, Monty, and Darrian- rocketed across the sky. All concerns about staying hidden from enemy patrols were tossed into the wind, the only thing that mattered now was getting back on time.
"Lieutenant, only fifteen minutes until Port Tsingtao is within effective firing distance of our main guns." Kessler reported. "However, we are still unable to connect to the 303rd's battle network, so missiles are still off the table until we get the LRRBs overhead."
"Keep trying." Bullow simply ordered. "We broke off from the Pike Flotilla to reinforce the defenders ahead of time. I'd be damned if we did all that just to be too late."
She then turned to the next station.
"Chief Engineer Winslow, how are we looking?"
"Ma'am, the worst of the damages we took in the last fight have been dealt with, but we're still trying to restore the primary power lines to the port-side anti-air array." Risima's chief engineer answered. "They'll be sluggish until then, so I'd advise against letting the enemy jump us from that direction."
"Noted." The Lieutenant nodded. "What about the secondary Minovsky particle pumps?"
"All good there." The chief said again. "We won't have to worry about losing output on the main guns."
"Excellent." Bullow said before turning to the chief of gunnery. "Mare, are the LRRBs ready for redeployment?"
"Just about done charging, ma'am." She said. "We've tweaked their power consumption profiles and flight behaviors, so hopefully they'll be in the fight for a bit longer."
"Good." Bullow nodded. "Launch them all when we're five minutes out."
Finally she turned to the bridge crew in charge of combat air control.
"Bring us down to sea level, then deploy all our Gunstrikes! Advise Monty and Darrian to do the same." She ordered. "We're going to break the enemy's offensive, we're not going to let them through, not again!"
-000-
Our fight was not going well. While the three of us were able to fight back against the enemy's relentless and unending mobile suit attacks, the battle around us was turning to the alien's favor. Allied forces were falling back, put on the backfoot by the enemy's seemingly endless numbers. I saw glimpses of Gunfighter teams having to temporarily withdraw to Ansbach Spaceport so that they could rearm and refuel their machines before returning to the front. With this, the Army was able to delay the enemy push down Oberstein Highway, but it was still a losing battle. Even with the horrific losses we were dealing to the enemy, they just kept on pushing.
Making things worse was how the battle was turning out for us personally. It was turning into a battle of attrition, and while we've been able to shoot down several of the enemy's mobile suits, those that remained still posed a deadly threat... especially now that we were starting to get worn down. As our engagement continued, I was starting to make more mistakes, lapses in judgement that would've been fatal if I were in any other machine besides the Gundam. There was no way we could keep this up for long. We had to find a way to break off or eliminate the enemy... because if we couldn't, it increasingly looked like it would be game over for us.
I deflected another series of melee attacks with my shield, the beam emitter activating and generating a beam barrier over the physical shield. Using an opening left by one of the enemies, I quickly opened fire with my beam vulcans, damaging its legs. However, before I could finish it off its two wingmen came in to protect it, forcing me back and sparing the life of the damaged machine.
Things like this have happened repeatedly now. Every single time one of the alien mobile suits were damaged, its wingmen would pile on the pressure, to let their buddy escape. Most times it worked, but a few times I was fast enough to finish off the enemy. I could feel the frustration building up and had to keep a handle on it. If I let it get over me, there was no doubt in my mind I'd start making rash decisions.
Rosen and Verns weren't faring much better. In fact, I'd go as far to say that Verns might've been having the hardest time of us three. The enemy's commander -which we figured based on the extra antennae on his head unit- was focusing his entire effort on Verns. Given that the alien commander and his wingmen were the best among the enemy, Verns might be in the most danger.
I cursed at myself for not being able to break out of encirclement to assist my friend. The enemy were doing a fantastic job at keeping the three of pinning us down and stopping us from reinforcing the other. It was the age old tactic of 'divide and conquer', and it was working far too well.
Then the turning point happened.
Exploiting a lapse in his defense, the alien commander drove his vibro-sword through Vern's left shoulder. His Gundam's left arm sparked as it malfunctioned and started to fail. He managed to pull back right before the enemy could deliver a killing blow, but even I knew his chances moving forward were slim.
Desperately, I looked for a way to break off from my own fight to back Verns up, but I simply couldn't find any. There wasn't a single opening I could exploit, to get to my friend and cover his withdrawal.
This was it.
This was the end.
This was where we were going to die.
Despair flooded into me and tears welled up, as I realized that we weren't going to make it out of this fight. I sat in my cockpit, stunned at the sight of the enemy cornering Verns and preparing to finish the job.
Quietly, I made a prayer... perhaps the first time I've done so in years. Praying for a miracle, for something to come and stop this madness.
Seconds passed by, my heart pounded in my chest as the Verns inevitable death approached...
But then, my prayers were answered.
-000-
"LRRBs has eyes on Port Tsingtao!" Gunnery Chief Mare announced. "Feeding targeting data to the fire control system and calculating deflection angle... complete!"
"Main batteries!" Bullow then called. "Fire!"
The barrels of Risima's hyperbeam cannons rapidly charged, glowing yellow for a moment before turning into a bright and vibrant pink. The collected energy was then set loose, unleashed in a torrent of hyper Minovsky particles leapt from the barrel and put into a spin by mass effect accelerators which lined each barrel.
Twelve individual hyperbeam bolts burned across the sky, on course to pass right over Port Tsingtao. This would've been its fate, as with every other beam weapon - to travel in a straight line until it dispersed enough that it became harmless. Beams couldn't arc. They weren't affected by the pull of gravity like conventional artillery. Direct fire was the only way these kinds of weapons could be used.
But now, there were new pieces in play.
I-field technology were well known at this point, especially in its capacity to deflect particle beams. Attempts to weaponize this concept have been in around since the late first century UC... but they always had their problems, be it range, deflection capacity, reliability, accuracy...
Now though, with the advent of 4th Century UC technology, they've come of age.
The LRRBs -Long Range Reflector Bits- were launched from Risima's VLS tubes like a common missile, travelling to its target area using the same rocket boosters used by Gungnir and Hellstorm missiles. Instead of splitting apart into smaller missiles like the Hellstorm, or slamming into its target like the Gungnir, the LRRB mounted on the warhead space would eject from the booster and hover in place using mass effect field generators, providing targeting data to the ship it launched from.
These LRRBs are remotely controlled by its host ship and can be used for a variety of missions, from recon, defensive purposes...
Or offensive ones.
As the hyperbeam bolt travelled it finally made contact with the LRRB, which activated its I-field and deflected the space cruiser's shot and sent it flying down towards the enemy on the ground. The eleven other shots did the exact same thing with Bits of their own, raining hell on enemy concentration and scattering them. Following the hyperbeam bolts were the salvos of Gungnir and Hellstorm missiles, continuing the rain of death.
It was only when the last of the Hellstorms exploded that Risima's acting captain spoke again.
"Effect on target?" She asked.
"Confirmed hits on enemy concentrations." Mare answered. "Unable to confirm severity."
"Damnit." Bullow cursed, before deciding to take a course of action. "Kessler, broadcast me on all allied frequencies."
She then took the handset on her arm rest so that she could make her call.
"This is Lieutenant Bullow, of the Space Force Cruiser CSS Risima, requesting contact with Congressional Forces in Port Tsingtao!" She announced.
Bullow paused for a moment to let an answer come in. When none came, she repeated.
"I say again, this is CSS Risima, requesting contact with Congressional Forces in Port Tsingtao!" She reiterated. "We need targeting data to provide effective fire support!"
"Risima, this is General Muller, you have no idea how good it is to hear from you!" Someone finally responded. "You've come back just in the nick of time."
The General's voice was filtered by static, likely due to enemy e-war efforts, but Bullow could still hear the excitement and relief in his words.
"The enemy's jamming is stopping us from synchronizing you to our battle network." General Muller explained. "We'll have to feed the target coordinates for you manually, stand by!"
Bullow let out a sigh of relief of her own after hearing General Muller's voice. By the sound of things, the Army was barely holding the line against the enemy's attack. Her risky decision to leave the Pike Flotilla behind after intercepting the enemy's northern invasion force turned out to be the right call.
"Risima, here are your targets!" Muller spoke again after he took the time to evaluate things on his end. "We need fire support on Foxtrot Six and Echo Five!"
Hearing those words, Bullow let out a small smile for the first time in a while.
"Roger that, General Muller." The Lieutenant nodded. "Firing for effect!"
-000-
The sudden barrage that came seemingly out of nowhere shocked the aliens enough that Rosen and I were able to disengage from our particular enemies to back Verns up. Under the cover of intense beam and missile artillery, we forced the enemy machines about to finish off Verns to retreat, before withdrawing from the front ourselves. I didn't even think about how such massive beam bolts was coming down from the sky... looking ahead, I couldn't see any ships or mobile suits up above. But that didn't really matter right now. The shots were hitting the enemy, and they were hitting the enemy hard. That's important right now.
To their credit, the alien aces didn't look like they were willing to let us go. With a glimpse of my rearview camera, I saw that their commander wanted to make chase, only to be held back by his subordinates. I don't know what was going on between them. Frankly, I didn't really care either. We made it out alive, damaged and battered as we may be. Our priority now was to get Verns to Ansbach Spaceport, where they could -hopefully- repair his machine.
We took to the skies, flying over the frontlines and towards the allied rear. As we did, we saw giant beam bolts rocketing up towards the sky, coming over a nearby mountain, and then with a bright flash suddenly redirected downwards. The three of us continued climbing, to the point we cleared the mountain's peak, revealing the source of our salvation.
"No way!" Rosen laughed. "They're here!"
"They got here early..." I mused.
"Looks like Bullow did it again." Verns sighed in relief.
Sailing by Deguo's coast, splitting the waves, and delivering vicious barrages of hyperbeam shots was none other than the Risima herself. She was using what appeared to be oversized reflector bits hovering over the mountain to deflect her shots towards the enemy, essentially letting her arc shots that otherwise wouldn't be possible.
I let a smile form on my face before melting into my seat.
For the first time in a while, I felt that things were going to turn out our way.
-000-
Larian and his team sped into the Forward Operating Base that served as the Army's field HQ, brushing past all the other vehicles and startling a lot of of the support personnel there. The Turian Ace only came to a stop right in front of the mobile HQ vehicle that the Army used as a command and control center. He brought his Gigas Lancea down to one knee before dismounting and storming into the vehicle.
Turians, Asari, and the few Salarians attached to the Deguo invasion force all steered clear of the Lieutenant, who's barely restrained anger could be felt by all those around. Even the guards at the command room's door hesitated to stop him, letting Larian push through and barge in.
"I had him!" Larian loudly said, pointing accusingly to Corinthus. "Sir, I HAD him and you gave the order to retreat!"
The newly promoted SNLF Colonel gave the Lieutenant a sympathetic look.
"Lieutenant..." Corinthus tried to speak, but he was cut off.
"Sir, you know exactly the kind of treat those machines and their pilot pose to us." Larian interrupted, continuing his tirade. "That was our best chance at taking them down, and you called off the attack right when I was about to finish the job!"
"Do you normally let your subordinates talk over you like this, Colonel?" Tantulas' stern though unusually high pitched voice interjected.
The two SNLF officers turned to look at the Army General in the room. Corinthus looked exasperated at the whole ordeal while Larian cursed his flaring temper.
"I was the one who gave the order to withdraw, the Colonel merely complied with my instructions." Tantulas asserted, his presence silencing any protests from the other two despite being slightly shorter than them. "If you have any complaints, you can levy them at me."
Larian looked away, disgruntled and a little sheepish. Eventually though, he gathered the courage to speak again.
"General Tantulas, Sir... the enemy's new models... these Gundams and their pilots were far more dangerous enemies than reports indicated." He began, having calmed himself and containing his anger. "The three of them were dealing significant damage to our forces and slowing down our advance. They were able to power through our ambush, and then survived our continuous overwhelming attacks. They might be small in numbers, but they were a strategic level threat. Eliminating them should've been a priority."
To these words, General Tantulas merely nodded.
"I agree, Lieutenant." He said, surprising Larian. "Your assessment is correct, which was all the more reason to have you withdrawn."
Hearing the General's response, the Turian Ace seemingly short circuited, unable to process Tantulas' line of thinking.
"I'm... sorry?" Larian blurted out. "Sir, I'm not sure I understand."
The General chuckled lightly at the Lieutenant's reaction before explaining.
"Your assessment that the Gundams are a strategic level threat are correct, Lieutenant. However, it seems you don't fully realize the full implications of what that entails."
The Army General then turned back to his holographic map, manipulating the display to show a VI projection of what kind of damage to the rest of the expedition the three Gundams could be capable of.
"Three Gundams." Tantulas started. "Just three were able to slow down our advance just enough for enemy reinforcements to arrive and deal devastating damage to our forces. Say you did successfully destroy those three Gundams... what then?"
"What... then?"
"Consider the toll it took to get the chance to destroy one of them." Tantulas pointed out. "How many more losses do you expect to take to destroy the other two? What are the chances that you'll be one of those losses?"
The General paused for a moment to let Larian answer. The Lieutenant started to think of an answer, though the more he thought about it, the more his browplates furrowed.
He wasn't liking the answer.
"The losses would be worse than you're comfortable with, I'm certain." The Army General continued. "So you destroyed the three Gundams for such horrid losses. What then? What happened after all those highly skilled pilots who's lives were lost trying to destroy those machines? What happens to all the knowledge they've gained, of how the enemy fights... of how the Gundams fight? What happens to the rest of us when the enemy inevitably produces more of those White Devils?"
The realization hit Larian like a speeding hovertruck. The Lieutenant temporarily lost his composure as the full scope and implications of what General Tantulas was talking about finally sank in.
"I see that you're starting to understand." Tantulas smiled.
He then changed the variables of the VI projections, increased the number of Gundams from three, to six, to twelve... and more.
"The Humans were able to produce three of them already." The Army General kept explaining as he let the VI run its calculations. "What makes you think that these three would be the only ones? That they wouldn't move to mass production?"
Finally, the VI finished its calculations and began displaying the results... results which were horrifying.
"The Gundams are a threat, and it would've been good to destroy those three... but it would be even better to understand our enemy." Tantulas then said as he walked over and put a hand on Larian's shoulder. "You and your pilots may very well be the most important Turians in this expedition now. Letting you die before you can pass on that experience and knowledge... that would be disastrous."
-000-
We touched down on Risima's flight deck just as it finished pulling into port. As space ships, she easily eclipsed every other vessel currently docked, rivaled only by the super-container ships which were stuck in port because of the war. As we brought our Gundams into the hangar, I saw that the scaffolds, gantries, and catwalks were packed to the brim. Almost the entire ship's crew and even the Golden Beacon technicians were here, cheering for us as we stepped through.
The scaffolds that temporarily housed Purple Team -the MS team that we picked up from the scuttled Loanie- was empty, with its machines standing on the flight deck, giving us their space for the moment. Once the three of us were locked into place, we exited our machines and were greeted by the ship's senior. Kessler was off to the left while Derrick and Barcus stood to the welcoming party's right. At the center was Bullow herself, who despite appearing disheveled and tired still had what was probably the brightest smile I've ever seen on the normally composed and withdrawn officer's face.
"Welcome home, Gundam Team." She said, looking like she was holding back tears.
Rosen was the first to react, running out of her Gundam's cockpit and tackling Bullow with a hug.
"Lieutenant Bullow, we're back!" She cried as she hugged Risima's CO. "Did you miss me?"
Bullow simply ruffled the young pilot's hair and laughed at her antics.
Verns and I stepped forward much less enthusiastically, largely because we were tired and didn't have Rosen's infinite supply of energy. Still, it felt like a great burden had just lifted from our shoulders.
"Thank you Bullow." Verns said, a tired smile forming on his face. "It's good to be back."
"We brought presents, too." I jokingly gestured at the Gundams.
"You three returning safe and sound would've been enough." Bullow shook her head. "Now, you all must be exhausted. Come on in. Let Derrick and Barcus deal with the Gundams, you've no clue how excited the flight crew were when we first realized you were going to come back with these machines."
All four of us headed in while the technicians moved their equipment to service our machines.
"All three of you, get some rest." Bullow said as passed the hangar entrance and went into the ship proper. "We'll do a proper debrief tomorrow and get you caught up with all the good news."
"Good news?" Verns asked skeptically.
"Yes, good news." Bullow nodded. "But I'll leave the details for tomorrow."
Hearing her words, I couldn't help but get a little excited.
I didn't want to get ahead of myself... but it's really starting to feel like things were turning to our favor.
-000-
A/N: Whoo! There goes the Battle of Port Tsingtao, the turning point in the First Contact War. Probably my second favorite battle to write so far, right behind the Battle of Baise Base. Wish I could've written more from Larian or Verns' POV, but I decided to stick with Irena for pacing's sake.
This battle also features the first Turian MS variant in the Arma Gigas Lancea, a high mobility modification made to lean even further on the 'mobility as a defense' concept that the Turians were already playing with. It's simply an Arma Gigas unit with stripped down armor and the thrusters of a Long Talon fighter welded to the legs and backskirt. Their vibro-swords are also just vibro-axe handles with the axehead replaced by a longblade.
Also, I've been reading the feedback and I'm very touched to hear that a lot of you do care about the characters. I'll freely admit that I don't think character writing isn't my strong and that I'm much more comfortable doing action and worldbuilding.
While we're ont he subject of characters, the Gundams of our main trio will be getting their mid-series upgrade soon (though it's already pretty long past the midpoint but I digress). Still debating whether or not I want it by this arc's finale or after, partially because I'm not quite sure about introducing upgrades so soon, but also because I'm still trying finalize what Rosen's upgrades would be. I have a few ideas but I'm open to suggestions. At any rate, the earliest the upgrades would show up on the field would be Episode 24.
Also also, before I forget again, I've commissioned and colored another bit of artwork for the series, this time for the Ground type Guncarriers. It's once again on my profile named 'QuattroBacheema' on the website that ends with Art and starts with Deviant (no link because FFNet will nuke it from low earth orbit). I'll probably get the Navy and Space types out next year.
And finally, any unsolicited offers or advertisements to make art commissions for me will be sternly rejected if not get you blocked entirely. I'm sure most of the spam coming in are phishing bots anyways, but even if you are a legit artist I'm not going to commission you anything. I'm sorry, but I only deal with artists I can trust.
-000-
THIS WORK IS CROSSPOSTED IN FFNET AND AO3