329"Only fools would believe a well-decided and organized retreat is an act of cowardice. Said fools also tend to blunder into traps and ambushes when they believe they have the 'cowards' on the run."
- Blake Tianem
Chapter III: Pursuit
Federation Lexington-class fleetcarrier Ark Royal
Warp
June 18, GC 379
With a hiss and pop, Unit Beta's cockpit hatch opened and revealed the outside hangar bay to Sleggar's eyes. Quickly removing his helmet, Sleggar immediately drew in much-needed fresh air, relishing its coolness before wiping the sweat off his forehead. The Gundam's performance, well and truly above that of a Guncannon's, and the battle with the Red Comet, well and truly above that of nearly every other the Commander had faced, had drained him more than he had expected. Only now, however, did he fully realize it. Maybe I should have taken that break in Antillia while I had the chance.
Unfastening his restraints, he quickly slipped out of Unit Beta and into the open hangar, drifting through zero gravity toward the polished flooring beneath. That part always made the ace mobile suit pilot laugh on the inside; combined with the almost gleaming metallic silver walls and relatively bright lighting, the interiors of Federation warships always looked somewhat stereotypical to him, as though they had been deliberately based on the ancient naval ships of the long past Common Era. It also helped that the Ark Royal's hangars, as well as her other decks, were large and quite spacious, not unlike the interior of an aircraft carrier; all that was missing were assorted aircraft spread across, as opposed to mobile suits lining across the sides. Amazing developments all around.
And then, with a soft tap, the Commander touched down on the deck floor, and upon stabilizing himself on his two feet, he was finally able to take in his surroundings. Not much had changed since he had launched; mechanics and technicians were still swarming the other suits present in the hangar, while a few pilots, both from Sleggar's Shrike Squadron and from any of the other three that made up the 13th Carrier Assault Group, were moving about to inspect their machines, obviously in the advent that they would be called out to battle soon. Some distance away, he saw Sayla emerge from Gundam Unit Gamma and immediately remove her helmet, allowing her blonde hair to sway in the atmosphere as she guided herself back down to ground level. Sleggar couldn't help but frown at her as she did so, remembering the point in their battle with the Red Comet where she suddenly froze up. He'd have to speak to her later; Sayla was too good of a pilot to suddenly cave in during a battle, especially against an enemy ace.
Not far beyond her was Gundam Unit Alpha, which was now in the process of latching itself to one of the available holding clamps. Moments later, its cockpit opened, and Sleggar watched as Amuro Ray, clad in a customized white pilot suit, also emerged from his unit and descended downward. Upon removing his helmet, the boy, who was a boy, let out a long breath while running his right hand across his short and ruffled reddish-brown hair, subconsciously leaning against the right leg of his mobile suit. A tech soon came by with a water flask, and Amuro gladly took it and began sipping the liquid through the straw.
As he continued to observe him, Sleggar once again found himself completely mystified by the Lieutenant and how he had been chosen as Unit Alpha's pilot and the strange vibes he got from him, even more so than he was with Sayla's sudden pause. Sure, he was a rookie; this was his first actual battle. One could claim he only survived due to the capabilities of his Gundam and knowledge of said capabilities, the latter of which neither Sleggar nor Sayla had for their respective units. Yet, at the same time, the Lieutenant had managed to hold his own against one of the best aces in the Zeon Empire, to the point that Unit Alpha had not suffered any damage and, even more so, had been able to keep up with himself and Sayla when they entered into the battle, to the point that they were able to synchronize their attacks effectively. And then there was the point where he foresaw that Zeon battlecruiser's attack before even Sayla could, and unlike almost every other individual in the Federal Forces, Sleggar was well aware of his subordinate's special powers.
Why do I feel there's more to this kid than what's obvious? Sleggar wondered as he watched Amuro depart from the hangar to parts unknown. He scratched his head as he left the hangar for parts unknown. And that when I do figure it out, I'll be sorry for ever thinking about it in the first place?
"Commander!" Sleggar heard a voice speak behind him. Turning, he saw a younger and shorter man than himself, noteworthy for his obsidian black hair, almost equally black eyes, and youthful but somewhat battle-hardened face, float up to him. The duel stripe and single diamond pips on his uniform identified him as a Lieutenant Commander, and as such, he saluted once he touched down in front of Sleggar.
The Commander saluted back. "I'm Glad to see you made it, Shiro," he stated with a small, satisfied grin. I trust the rest are back as well."
"All present and accounted for. I made sure myself." Lieutenant Commander Shiro Amada replied with a nod. He then turned to look up at Unit Beta. "So, this is what we were sent out here for."
"That's it. The Gundam." Sleggar acknowledged with a nod of his own, also looking back up at the grey behemoth.
"What was it like?" Shiro inquired.
Sleggar paused to consider his response. "A dream come true," he said, smiling appreciatively. I've piloted just about every mobile suit the Federation has put out, but none of them compare to this one."
Shiro nodded, looking further upward toward Unit Beta's now dimmed yellow eyes. "You think these things will win us the war?"
Sleggar shrugged. "Who knows? There are so many things going on, and I don't know if a new mobile suit will make that big of a difference," he stated, thinking a little more. "Having said that, they'll at least give us a fighting chance. That's more than what we've had so far."
"Yes," Shiro stated vehemently, a certain intensity flickering in his eyes. The memories of so many lost battles and retreats began to reemerge in his mind, starting with the destruction of Shiro's homeworld of Hera. As such, even if it was just a "fighting chance," Shiro was more than happy to take it for what it was worth so that the Federation could finally beat Zeon back properly.
Sleggar, astute as he always was, quickly noticed the dark expression on his subordinate's face. "Anyway, at the risk of sounding anachronistic..." he said, snapping the Lieutenant Commander out of his trance. "...we're not out of the woods yet. Chances are that Zeek taskforce is still tailing us."
Shiro quickly readopted military seriousness, as he had already concluded. "You think they'll attack us at warp?"
"I don't know. I want to think the Zeeks aren't that reckless, but considering who's in command on their end, I wouldn't put it past them." Sleggar stated with a frown. "Either way, I will meet with the Captain to figure it out. In the meantime, I want you and the rest of the 13th geared up and on standby for the curtain call."
"Sir." Shiro saluted again as Sleggar, who once more returned the salute, floated away.
As Amuro exited the turbolift and stepped onto Deck Six, he cringed, and his special senses picked up on Fraw's emotional state down the corridor. For a second, he considered simply turning around and leaving the young woman to her emotions, but he managed to keep himself on task by remembering what he was there for. As such, he soon began to walk down the deck toward his intended destination.
Soon enough, simply by focusing on her presence, he managed to find his way to Fraw's quarters, where he knocked twice on the door after forcing back his own hesitation again. No answer came, but the door was unlocked anyway, so Amuro tapped the keypad once and had the door open. "Fraw?" he spoke out to the waiting darkness beyond.
The first thing Amuro noticed upon entering the room was that the grav-plating had been deactivated, thus causing him to float off the deck and into the air with various other objects inside. This wasn't too much of an issue with him, as he had been moving about in zero-g just moments earlier in the Ark Royal's hangar, but it did feel awkward to be doing it in near-total darkness and amidst debris. The second thing he noticed upon entering was Fraw herself, floating in the middle of the room with her body in the fetal position, face pushed against the tops of her knees while her arms were wrapped against her legs. She made no sounds now, though one could see teardrops floating beside her, signifying that she was far from emotionally recovered. Not that Amuro needed a reminder of that latter fact, both from the obvious and how he could feel her trauma as if it were his own.
At this point, the Gundam pilot was at a loss of what to do; for all his gifts and knowledge, Amuro Ray was not accustomed to human emotions, especially when they came from a girl who had just lost her family. Yes, he could feel the emotional state radiating from her, but that didn't mean he understood what he could do about it. Unlike a technological issue, he knew he couldn't simply "fix" it with a choice of mechanical parts and circuitry work. How did one fix a problem like this anyway? Could it even be fixed at all?
After wrapping his head around it, Amuro grit his teeth. I shouldn't have come here. He thought before turning around to float back out.
"Amuro?" his ears suddenly picked up, causing him to stop and turn back around. From there, he saw Fraw was still in the fetal position, but now she had looked up from her knees and was staring at him with reddened, teary eyes.
Again, at a loss for what to do, Amuro stammered to speak. "Sorry, I... Just wanted to check on you...!"
"It's alright," Fraw said, slowly unfolding herself out of her position to face Amuro back. "I...don't mind you being here."
Amuro gulped at that, but as he "felt" Fraw's tension drain slightly, he remained where he was. As such, once more, through his special senses in place of his vision, he could depict Fraw slowly straightening herself until she was relatively upright, though her eyes remained blurred from the tears. Once she had accomplished that much, her lips adopted a sad smile.
"It's funny," she began to speak in a tone that told Amuro it was anything but. "I always wanted to get off that colony and travel the galaxy, enough that one of my biggest fears growing up was being stuck there for the rest of my life. I spent years looking for a way out of Antillia and even went against my parents' wishes."
She allowed herself to sniff before going on. "But now...now I finally got my wish. It cost my family and my home, but I'm finally on a ship heading away from that damned colony..."
"Fraw..." Amuro started but faltered when he realized he didn't know what to say.
In response, Fraw shook her head. "And the worst part of it is...after all that's happened, I only realize now that..." she continued. "...I have nowhere to go."
As if responding to her statement, Fraw cringed as she forced back the urge to burst into tears again. "That damned colony had everything important to me, and now it's all gone! My family dead, my home destroyed, the life I knew erased, and here I am with no idea of what to go on from here!" Finally, she allowed the tears to come forward again. "No matter how hard I try to think, I can't figure any of it out! Where do I go from here? How can I move on from this!"
Even through the pitch darkness, Amuro could "see" the desperation in Fraw's eyes, and she looked back toward him. "Can you tell me, Amuro?" she nearly pleaded. "Can you tell me what I'm supposed to do now?"
Amuro remained silent as he tried to respond, but once again, he was unable to. It also didn't help that Fraw's emotional tone had become even more conflicted than before, and the result was having a negative effect on his own psyche, like an empathic poison.
"This shouldn't be a problem for you?" Fraw said, her voice desperate. Her emotions were growing. "For a genius like you, this is an easy problem to fix, right? No different than what you've had to deal with on that mobile suit, yes?"
She looked down. "So please..." she started again before looking back up, tears floating away from her eyes. "...please tell me...!"
Subconsciously, Amuro flexed his fists as the tension once more washed over him like a tidal wave, forcing him to clench his teeth together to hold against it. Slowly, he looked away, eyes closed as he tried to hold it all in. "I'm sorry," he murmured loud enough for Fraw to hear it. "I don't have any answer to that question either, Fraw. Something like this is... far from what I've had to deal with on the Gundam." his voice became more downtrodden. "Even I only know so much!"
Fraw could only stare back as Amuro struggled with himself, trying to make sense of his feelings and his desire to comfort his longtime friend. The continuing emotional tension from Fraw wasn't helping him, of course, as her anguish compounded upon his turmoil, causing him to writhe from it all internally. At first, Fraw moved to tell him to forget what she just asked, only for Amuro to blurt out. "All I can say is...for whatever it's worth..."
Another moment passed before Amuro could continue. "I...I...I'm here for you...and I'll make sure you get to Earth..." the medical student felt herself momentarily overcome with shock at Amuro's declaration, even as he continued. "Just like I told you before...!"
Hearing that, Fraw allowed herself to sigh, closing her eyes and allowing a small, barely noticeable smile to come over her. It was an awkward statement, to say the least, made by one who didn't know how to talk to another human being, much more another human being in anguish, but it was enough for her. Yes, the loss she felt for her parents and everything else was still there, and it continued to eat away at her, but if only for a moment, she acknowledged that she was not alone. And it only took Amuro's efforts to remind her of that fact.
"I'm sorry," Amuro said again, her silence making him even more uncomfortable with his declaration. "If that's not good enough..."
Fraw only shook her head. "No, it's enough," she replied, still tearful but much calmer.
At that point, she attempted to move closer to him. This only caused Amuro to stir uncomfortably at her proximity, so Fraw, understanding, moved to a point where she was close but not close enough to disturb the pilot further.
"I'm the one who should be sorry for forcing this on you." Fraw continued. "With all that's happened, I forgot how much you struggle with human emotion."
Amuro nodded in response. "As long as you're alright, Fraw..."
"Heh," Fraw stated flatly. I don't think I'll be alright for a long time, Amuro."
She looked away, feeling the loss in her again. : Something like this… I'm not sure if I'll ever heal from it. But all the same, I'm grateful to you for trying."
Upon that, Amuro thought he felt something else well up in Fraw. Something that felt far off, like a distant sunrise, and barely describable, only that it was directed toward him most of all. Naturally, that only made him feel even more uneasy, and so he decided now was the time for him to depart. "I've got stuff to do. But if you need anything, you can call me or anyone else on the ship, so long as you don't disrupt operations."
"Yes," Fraw acknowledged.
Amuro turned and exited. Leaving Fraw alone to her thoughts and struggle.
Slipping a cash chip into the vending machine, Sayla quickly dialed the combination for her wanted drink. A moment later, the whirring sound of grav plates and circuitry sounded up, with the former lifting the select beverage, chilled Ammanan coffee, from its holding area and quickly depositing it into the front slot. From there, Sayla took the coffee in hand and reclaimed her cash chip upon its ejection before turning around and moving to a nearby table in the Ark Royal's mess hall.
At this point, lunch had long ended, and most of the crew was either on duty or finding recreation elsewhere, which resulted in the mess being deserted. This was a good thing, as Sayla needed the privacy; there was so much on her mind now that any company, even among those who were relatively close to her, would be more a hindrance than a relief. That, plus the fact she had just returned from the hardest mobile suit dogfight she had ever taken part in, one that even surpassed the Battle of Riah, the melee where she had earned her status as an ace alongside her vaunted alias, in struggle and difficulty. As such, she also needed a respite before the next battle, which, knowing her enemy, was all but guaranteed to occur soon.
The enemy. Sayla frowned deeply at that phrase and how it now described the very last man she ever thought to meet in battle, at least on opposite sides. Brother... she thought, her gaze narrowing down at a spot on the table. ...was that you?
Again, the images played in her mind at that thought. The sight of a red Zaku, beam axe falling upon Unit Alpha, only for her to intervene and parry with her beam saber. Then the sensation that ran up her spine as she "saw" past the physical plane and into the crimson machine, the symbolic weapon of Zeon and everything she hated of and within it, and from her position amongst the stars, beheld what was inside the machine. The spiritual pressure, the raw emotion, the very feeling coming from that entity within all came to her senses. It elicited emotions in a way that no other being in the universe could have done. A moment later, it was all severed when Unit Alpha continued the attack.
The memories alone were enough to cause enough anguish in Sayla that she brought up her fist and, in a silent cry of rage, slammed it into the table with a thunderous crash. There was enough force behind the blow that the metal concaved around her fist, much like it would have had a Terran silverback gorilla laid its hand upon it. Fortunately, however, no one else was present to witness Sayla's incredible feet, much less question her origins, as only one subspecies of humanity was renowned for that level of strength. As such, Sayla retained her fist for several moments longer while fighting against the urge to cry.
It's impossible! Her mind sounded out as she squeezed her eyes shut, her body trembling from a combination of sorrow and rage. We both swore on our father's grave to never forgive nor forget what that traitor and his bastard siblings had done to us, our family, and Zeon. We both promised vengeance upon them...!
So why... she all but screamed in her mind, the trembling becoming outright violent in its scope. Why were you in that Zaku!?
There were many explanations to that question, yet no way to confirm any of them now. Even so, none of them changed the fact that her brother was fighting for the Zabis under the alias Char Aznable, nor had he already taken part in many of Zeon's conquest of Federal worlds and elsewhere. Sayla also found herself sneering at that prospect; despite the fact she was fighting as an Earth pilot, she didn't particularly care for the Federation beyond the fact that it was the one faction that had a chance of defeating the Empire. Even so, she was more than sympathetic to the individual worlds of the Federation. The same worlds had decided to align with the EF and live prosperously under its flag, only now to be subjugated under the name of Zeon as inferiors. The idea that the Red Comet had aided the Empire in their subjugation made her stomach turn, no matter what her brother's reasons for perceivably following Gihren Zabi's banner.
Taking a moment to calm herself before she bashed another crevasse into the table again, she sighed and sat back, finally sipping her coffee. The liquid refreshed her and drained away some of the tension, but she still felt worn. The war, the last battle, her crusade against the Zabi family, and now seeing her long-lost elder brother in an enemy machine all made her feel more exhausted than she had ever felt in a long time. She supposed it was only natural; even with all the superiorities she possessed over the "average" human, one of which had been demonstrated when she indented the table, she was not completely infallible to physical or mental fatigue. After all, like everyone else in the Federation, she had been fighting a losing war despite her skills and best efforts. A losing battle against a once proud and noble empire morphed into a twisted oligarchy by a tyrannical usurper. An empire that now possessed the blood of countless on its standard, starting with that of its rightful ruler.
Therein lay the difference: whereas the Federation had been at war with Zeon only for the last few years, Sayla Mass had been at war with the Empire for nearly her entire life. A war that, as of now, she was no closer to winning than when she had first declared it. No closer to wrapping her hands around Gihren Zabi's throat and ripping the very life essence out of his mortal form, nor to avenge her father and all those who had died under his command. No closer to liberating the galaxy from tyranny nor returning all to the proper course as laid out by Gwadan Von Daikun and his descendants. No closer to victory, with each passing moment, such a conclusion became all the more uncertain.
But even so, as long as she lived, her war lived regardless of her momentary exhaustion. Taking another sip of her coffee, rejuvenating just a little more of herself, Sayla focused on Char Aznable and the notion that her brother had gone over to the enemy. Again, her insides twisted at the idea of his supporting Gihren, but this time, she managed to keep her emotions from overruling her composure. After all, only the lowborn allowed themselves to truly fall prey to their feelings. While Sayla may not have been entirely perfect, she was still anything but a lowborn commoner.
If there was any consolation to this dilemma, Sayla now knew where her brother was; he had disappeared from her life so long ago, and Sayla had given up on tracking him down. One of the alternate reasons for her joining the Federal Forces, outside of fighting the Zabis, of course, was because she had originally believed that her brother had gone to the Federation for the same purpose. It disappointed Sayla when she could not track his name or known aliases in the Federal registry. Now that he had finally been located, she was even more disappointed.
Fortunately, there was still time to get a proper explanation of her brother's apparent choice of allegiance. Char Aznable may have been a Zeon pilot, but that didn't mean Casval had gone over to the Zabis completely, and again, there were more likely possibilities out there than his simply being a traitor. The trick, however, would be finding a proper time and place to confront him without alerting the Zeon or her Earth "allies" to her true intentions, much less her connection to the Red Comet. That would be a difficult task but not impossible.
At the very least, she would get her first opportunity soon. Even without her special senses, Sayla could feel Casval was out there, giving chase to the Ark Royal after its narrow escape. Knowing him, he would continue to pursue the Federation carrier until he could mount a full attack. When that happened, Sayla would be deployed with the rest of the 13th Carrier Assault Group to defend their mothership.
And it was from this notion that, contrary to her fatigue, made Sayla flash a small anticipating grin at the corner of her mouth. At long last, she would finally get her desired reunion with her beloved elder sibling, and on top of that, she would be able to slay even more of "Emperor" Gihren's minions. What more could she want?
The bridge had fallen silent since the Ark Royal entered warp speed. For most of those present, it was a moment of relief, as the Zeon were no longer shooting at them, and they were returning to Earth. Of course, this was counterbalanced by the (rightful) fear of the Zeon still tracking them from behind while cloaked, alongside the anxiety of not knowing when the enemy would choose to attack. Besides the silence, there was a fair amount of dread from the bridge crew, who went about their duties in short order but were otherwise unnerved.
For her life, Mirai wished she weren't among their number and that, besides her rank of Lieutenant Commander, she also held the iron skin that the experience had gained from the constant warfare. Unfortunately, that was not the case with her as she, like many of her subordinates, had yet to find a way to keep the tension from getting to her. Yes, she was a veteran and had taken part in several battles to this point - fortunately, Arcturus wasn't one of them - but Mirai didn't have as fine an emotional control over herself as others. As a result of this, while Mirai possessed the skill for her role aboard the Ark Royal and could easily do her part when the fight arose, she had yet to find a way to establish a complete inner calm in herself, a way to keep the battle from overly affecting her nerves the way Captain Noa and Sleggar could.
Of course, part of the reason behind her present anxiety, she surmised, was that she didn't know how they were going to deal with the Zeon on their collective tails. In that regard, she glanced at her CO, who was still going over a series of holographic star charts in front of his chair. While Mirai might not have been perfect as an executive officer for a Federation fleetcarrier, she had been such long enough that she knew Bright Noa always had a plan when the situation arose. And when he didn't, he was fast enough to come up with one at a moment's notice, which was obviously what he was doing now. Mirai only wished that she could anticipate his strategies on the spot. Unfortunately, only one individual aboard the Ark Royal could rightfully claim to know and expect the captain's mindset.
Soon enough, that same individual quickly slipped onto the bridge, still dressed in his custom blue pilot suit with his helmet slipped off. Without skipping a beat, Sleggar Law remained at the rear of the bridge with his arms crossed, eyes staring straight into the back of Bright's chair, never speaking a single word. That unnerved Mirai; the "strong and silent" description never worked well with Sleggar, as the ace only turned into such when the situation truly became tense.
Bright continued to look over the star charts for a few more moments. When that time passed, however, he quickly rose. "Lieutenant Jose, you have the conn," he stated to the Ark Royal's operations officer, Lieutenant Ryu Jose, all the while continuing to move toward the back door. A few more moments later, he was through the entryway, with Sleggar and Mirai following close behind.
After a quick trek through the walkways, they came to the captain's office, which, much like ancient Earth warships, was placed not far from the bridge. The office was fairly cozy despite its military background, with chrome-colored walls and dark bluish carpeting. The captain's desk was mounted in the middle of the far end, just in front of a giant rearward monitor currently displaying stars speeding past. A resting couch and some chairs were spread out around the office, alongside a few decorations like a ship model and so forth. While adoring the sides of the office were pictures taken of Bright's home city of Portsmouth. Just behind his desk, however, was another line of pictures, hand-sketched images of past ships named Ark Royal, alongside the vessel's official seal in the middle of them: a navy blue and gold outlined circle depicting the original Ark, topped by a golden crown and set amongst a field of stars, while along the bottom was a banner that read Desir Na Repos. Overall, the office was comfortable for its occupants but retained the militaristic nature and grandeur one would expect.
Bright moved to his desk without any pause and took his chair while Sleggar and Mirai took seats in front of it. "I'll get straight to the point." Bright started. "What I'm about to share with you may seem...unorthodox, if not contrary to standard tactics. Even so, I've surmised that this is our best chance toward eluding the Zeon."
Mirai and Sleggar remained silent as Bright tapped a keypad on his desk. In a second, the monitor behind him flickered, replacing the scene of stars flashing past with a digital map of the galaxy. A few keystrokes later, the map narrowed down to a certain star system, which displayed an orange dwarf star, three planets, and an asteroid field between the first world and the last two. The display read as "Star System X-145".
Immediately, Mirai felt confusion come over her. "We're going to make our stand there? In an unexplored system?"
"Indeed, Commander," Bright replied. "With the nearest Federation system, Juno, being almost two weeks out, I'm afraid that is where we'll fight the Zeon."
He continued before Mirai could respond. "The plan is simple: once we exit warp speed, we will take the Ark Royal into X-145's asteroid field..." the map immediately highlighted the band. "...and use it as a defensive screen while launching a forward mobile suit squadron to provide navigation. Should they pursue, the Zeon will be forced to abandon their cloaks and be greatly hindered in their advance."
Despite her professionalism, Mirai felt her gut clench at the prospect of taking a fleetcarrier like the Ark Royal into a treacherous area like an asteroid field but said nothing as Bright went on. She did, however, visibly gulp. For his part, Sleggar only smirked, again reflecting on a certain science fiction trilogy.
"This maneuver will also leave the Zeon vulnerable to surprise attack." Bright turned toward Sleggar. "You will take the remaining three squadrons and move rearward. If you verify any Zeon presence, you must remove and return it quickly. The method of your attack will remain up to you."
Sleggar nodded. "Do I have permission to use the Gundams? And that includes Unit Alpha."
Bright closed his eyes and answered despite his reluctance. "You may use Unit Beta and Unit Gamma, but I must insist that Unit Alpha remain behind. Lieutenant Ray is too inexperienced, and we need at least one prototype to make it back to Earth."
Sleggar shook his head. "I have to disagree, Bright. While Lieutenant Ray is a rookie, he knows his machine and how to utilize it; that makes him all the more vital to this mission, perhaps even more so than Lieutenant Mass or myself. I must insist on bringing him along, as he's our one trump card against the Red Comet."
Mirai looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "You plan on deliberately pitting a rookie against Char Aznable? Even when it took all three of you just earlier?"
Once more, Sleggar smirked, causing Mirai to grimace inwardly. She had always hated that display of self-righteousness on her ex's part. "If you recall, he held his own quite well last time," Sleggar stated matter-of-factly. "At the very least, he'll distract him while the rest of us take out the ships and regular units; even if Lieutenant Ray doesn't take down the Comet, poor Aznable will wind up without transportation or support. And unless his Zaku is carrying a warp drive, he'll also wind up stranded."
He then turned back to Bright, smirk ever present. "Either way, we'll lose our tail."
Taking that in himself, Bright sighed but nodded all the same. "Very well, you may use Unit Alpha, but to a point."
"Can do," Sleggar stated in turn.
And then it was Mirai's turn to speak. "With all due respect, Captain, I don't like this plan," she stated, gaining Bright's attention. "It's bad enough that we're taking the Ark Royal, as big as she is, into something as unpredictable as an asteroid field..."
"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Sleggar interrupted nonchalantly. This caused Mirai to turn and glare at him again, to which he turned and smiled innocently.
Shaking her head, Mirai continued. "...but for all of Katz's skill, he's still wounded. I don't think he'll be up to the job, sir."
"I'm inclined to agree, Commander," Bright replied with a knowing glance. "Which is why you'll be replacing Katz at the helm once we reach X-145."
Mirai looked back in surprise, though in her short hindsight, she should have expected it. She had started as a helmsman on the Suzuya, which Bright was well aware of, and she likely had far more experience at the station than the still relatively green Ensign Katz Hawin had in the here and now. That made her the obvious choice, though this would be the first time she piloted something as large as the Royal, nearly twice as big as her previous ship and one of the biggest classes Earth fielded. To Mirai's knowledge, the only thing bigger in the Federation's arsenal was the Birmingham, the Federation's near-legendary flagship, which was over a kilometer in length.
But despite all that, Mirai acknowledged the command anyway. "As you wish, sir," she stated, managing to keep the hesitation out of her voice, though someone as sharp as Bright would likely pick up on it anyway. If he did, though, the Captain chose to ignore it.
Looking over to the side, Bright quickly tapped another key, causing a small chronometer on his desk-mounted monitor to flash on. The clock promptly began to count down from two hours and twenty-seven minutes, which was the length of the Ark Royal's time before she would reach X-145.
"We have just over five hours," he stated in turn. "Mirai, head back to the bridge and take the conn. I'll follow you up shortly. Sleggar, begin formulating a plan of attack. At 1607, we set up for the operation. Dismissed."
Both nodded and returned to exit, leaving Bright in his office. As soon she was out and returning to the bridge, Mirai let out a small sigh in the open air. So much for the milk run...
Zeon Rewloola-class battlecruiser Ralmel
Warp
Char had settled down quite well within the relative comfort of his quarters. The soft but dynamic tones of The Tragedy of Prince Afranche, as performed by Zeon's Imperial Orchestra, rang out over the audio system, establishing a somewhat emotional aura within the room. Finally, Char was sitting at his desk and looking over his monitor, scanning what was displayed with great interest, while his mask and pilot suit helmet sat to the side.
One after the other, the images of the three new Federation mobile suits, taken from his Zaku's main camera, shifted across the screen. His eyes narrowed at them as they came and went; aside from the ancient Earth letters that were stenciled onto each unit's left shoulder, the MS were indiscernible from each other. Their capabilities and overall performance seemed to be the same as well. Yet even so, pilots controlled each one with their unique combat styles, and Char did well to remember how each unit had fought against him. This was one of the reasons why he was going over the images now; he wanted to be sure he had committed each letter alongside each pilot and fighting style to memory, especially before the next battle.
Naturally, that wasn't the only reason. The other half became apparent when Char brought up a particular image, one depicting the mobile suit with the letter Gamma on its left shoulder having interlined itself between Char and the one marked Alpha, blocking his beam axe strike with its sword. He frowned at that image as he looked into the digitized yellow eye cameras and again pictured the one he had "felt" within the machine. I should have known Artesia would join the Federal Forces.
The very idea made him cringe, albeit only a little. He had sincerely hoped that despite all that had happened to them, Artesia would have chosen a peaceful life for herself, one that remained outside his desire for vengeance and destruction for those who had wronged them. Not long ago, he left her behind with one of their most valued supporters and patrons to ensure that wish. Still, looking upon the image of the Gamma unit, he saw that Artesia could never put aside her virulence toward Gihren Zabi and his traitorous family. It was natural, he supposed; Artesia had been quite young when their father passed on, and their line put asunder, younger and more prone to her emotions than he had been during that time of madness. Defecting the Federation to carry out her vengeance had been the obvious choice for her to make.
It was then that a sound-only window opened on his monitor. "XO to Commander Aznable," Nanai said from the other end.
Char frowned again, quickly deactivating his music. He had left orders not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency, yet going by his subordinate's tone, it didn't seem like the ship was about to self-destruct. Even so, he opened a connection. "Aznable here. What is it, Nanai?" he tried his best to keep the displeasure from his voice.
Nanai seemed to pick up on it regardless. "Forgive me, Commander. I was going over the battle footage. I thought you would want to see this."
A second later, images appeared on Char's monitor, this time depicting the enemy Lexington-class carrier instead of any new model mobile suits. Curious, Char watched as one of the images was highlighted and then zoomed and centered upon the carrier's bridge. When it finished zooming, the Zeon ace immediately recognized what Nanai wanted him to see. Per standard Federation protocol, the vessel's name and serial number had been inscribed on top of the bridge, and Char had no trouble reading it. EFS Ark Royal. CV-13.
A flash of memory came over Char alongside a small smile; he recognized that name, as he had read it once before, not long ago at Arcturus. "So she survived after all."
"It would seem that way, sir," Nanai replied. "According to Intelligence, only four out of the thirteen Lexington-class carriers remain operational; the rest have been destroyed in one way or another. And as you know, this particular Trojan Horse was thought to have been among those lost, but..."
"There was enough left to salvage, so there are five." Char acknowledged, again recalling his previous encounter with that particular ship. During Arcturus, he heavily damaged the ship, blowing off both of its bow-mounted "legs" and most of its weapons before finally destroying the bridge itself. However, when he was about to finish it, Federation mobile suits intercepted him and forced him away, causing him to lose track. Despite this, the Ark Royal, as it was identified, had been assumed to have sunk or scuttled after the battle had ended, as it just didn't seem possible for her to survive the onslaught with such damage.
And yet, here it was, having made it to Antillia to blow its way past Char's force and make a warp dash toward Federation space. Char wasn't particularly religious, at least in the traditional sense, but even he could not die that such an encounter was any less than a miracle. The question was, how many miracles did this ship have remaining? "Where is she heading now?"
"Following their assumed course, they seem to be heading toward a star system, X-145," Nanai stated as she looked over the data. "It's an uninhabited system consisting of a Class K star and three planets, all Class L."
Char's eyes narrowed once more as he pondered that information curiously. He had expected the Federation captain to try and hold pace with Juno, but it seemed that this Feddie would make a detour along the way, obviously to try and shake off his pursuit. The question was, how would he do it? What did X-145 offer for elusion from the Zeon?
With little time, Char immediately booted up information on the system and, immediately looking upon the asteroid belt that Nanai failed to mention, quickly realized his answer.
"How interesting!" he said as he looked over the band. The enemy captain is more daring than I thought."
"Sir?" Nanai questioned.
"In an hour, have the officers assemble to the briefing room. I'll explain everything there." Char replied before cutting the channel. He needed what time he had left for himself.
Sighing, Char reengaged his opera before sitting back and resting his head on his hands. Even now, he could still feel Artesia's presence in the void despite the lightyears between them. And he did not doubt that she could feel him as well. Such was their bond. For his life, he wished she were not out there now, on the very ship he had laid to waste once before and was likely to do again. But such was not to be.
Suddenly feeling exhaustion catch up to him again, Char drifted off with one final thought. Father, what would you have done if you had faced such a fate?
Federation Lexington-class fleetcarrier Ark Royal
Warp
Amuro came up to the ready room with a certain sense of unease. He wasn't sure what he was doing there, only that he had been ordered there by Commander Law, and that was all that mattered. As such, after pushing a button or two, the door slid open, and Amuro entered.
Immediately, Amuro took in the sights and sounds of the new setting. Many chairs and desks were arrayed in several rows covering the floor, while at the far end of the room was a massive display screen and a holographics projector flanked by two smaller screens. The screen on the left currently displayed the Earth Federation emblem, a golden anchor-shaped cross. In contrast, the right displayed the 13th Carrier Assault Group's symbol, an inverted dark blue triangle displaying a stylized golden '13'. A podium stood to the far left of the monitor. Beyond those, the pilots were the only other things that occupied the room.
Entering cautiously, Amuro eyed the other pilots in the room, some of which eyed him back; all the while, he moved to find a chair for himself. They all wore the standard pilot suit, which was just like his except colored grey instead of white, and they each had their unique traits in one way or another, with some being around his age. In contrast, others were much older and possessed different mannerisms and expressions as they did whatever. Amuro himself wasn't inclined to take note of any of them. However, they were all on the same side, and that's all he cared for.
At least up to the point he came across her. Sitting near the middle of the room, as he recognized, was that red Guncannon pilot who had taken over Unit Gamma in the battle before. Up close, Amuro saw that she was about his age, maybe a little older, while possessing long golden blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes that he had ever seen in a human being. Like himself, she was dressed in a personalized pilot suit, colored red instead of grey or white, while her physique was quite slender but not outright anorexic. Currently, she was sitting back in one of the chairs, quietly awaiting the briefing to begin.
Even now, he could feel a mysterious pressure emanating from her, just as he had back on the colony; however, before he could ascertain how or why, the door swung open again to reveal a young-looking Lieutenant Commander entering.
"Attention on deck!" he called out. Simultaneously, as did the Lieutenant Commander, all the pilots snapped at attention.
From there, Commander Law entered the room, distinguished by his dark blue pilot suit amongst the lot. "At ease," he spoke, causing everyone to sit down. Amuro quickly took his seat next to the Unit Gamma pilot.
"As I'm sure you have all heard..." Sleggar began. "The Zeek task force that attacked Antillia is likely still behind us. We have no way of verifying that, as the enemy ships would be cloaked; that means we have to assume that they're still there."
His expression turned even more grim. "And to make matters worse, they are all being led by this man..."
The main screen flashed, switching to an image of a man dressed in a polished red uniform that bore the rank pips of a full Commander while a silver mask and helmet combination covered his face. On the left side of that picture, the data page also phased into virtual existence, though many quickly noted that there was very little information beyond the name and rank. The atmosphere in the room became much, much colder. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Commander Char Aznable of the Zeon Empire."
Under her desk, Sayla could feel her hand draw into a fist at that image, but she said nothing. The briefing continued.
"While Intelligence has very little on his background, his combat record is more than established," Sleggar stated, letting the screen flash to display a set of statistics. "During the war's opening weeks, he was credited for singlehandedly destroying an interdiction force sent into Zeon space: three cruisers and their total complement of eighteen mobile suits. At the Battle of Arcturus, his kill rating was estimated at over fifty mobile suits, five battlecruisers, and God knows what else. Besides those, he also did significant damage to this very ship; fortunately, he was intercepted before he could finish the job."
A new image flashed, displaying the same red-tinted Zaku that Amuro, Sayla, and Sleggar fought outside Antillia. "His main trademark, besides the mask and helmet combo, is his machine: this red Zaku, which has been highly customized from the baseline model. Indeed, our friend Commander Aznable is quite the speed demon, even more so than the average Zaku pilot; his entire combat style centers around hit-and-run tactics and evasion, to the point that he's flown circles around Guncannons."
Sleggar frowned. "Thus the origin of his epithet, which was coined by one of his victims at Arcturus." he took a breath before continuing. "The Red Comet."
The Commander let that sink in before he went on. "Make no mistake, people, Aznable is one of the best. At Antillia, Lieutenant Mass, myself, and Lieutenant Ray in the three Gundams held him back. In the coming battle, avoid engagement at all costs."
The screen then shifted to show images of the Rewloola-class battle cruiser and two Musaka-class cruisers from before. "Now, besides the Comet, the enemy taskforce comprises at least one battlecruiser, two standard cruisers, and assumedly just over twenty mobile suits. We don't have an estimate on the latter, as several of their suits were destroyed in the previous battle, but it's a good bet we'll be in for a fight anyway."
The screen again altered, this time showing the map of System X-145 that Bright had utilized before. "The plan is simple. Once we exit warp speed, the Ark Royal will enter this star system's asteroid field, with the Gauntlet Squadron acting as forward spotters. Should the Zeeks pursue, which is pretty much a guarantee, they will be forced to abandon their cloaks, and their sensors and mobility will be greatly hindered." a diabolical smirk soon formed on his lips. "In other words, they'll be completely open."
The map then shifted to a close-up of the asteroid field, this time displaying the Zeeks' assumed positions and the layout of a battle plan. "While Gauntlet Squadron directs the ship, Shrike, Warhound, and Thunderbolt Squadrons will advance rearward. With any luck, we'll catch the Zeeks dead center of it; if that is true, we will enclose them while using the surrounding asteroids for cover. With any more luck, the Zeeks won't realize what's happening until the first shot is fired."
The Commander then looked toward one particular pilot, a tall, burly man with tanned skin, dark hair, and a natural glare. "Lieutenant Sanders, since your suit has the biggest gun, you will have the privilege of the first shot. If all goes according to plan, of course."
When the pilot nodded, Sleggar went on. "Our primary targets will be their warships, namely that red Rewloola. Without their ships, the surviving Zeeks will be stranded, assuming they don't surrender to us. Either way, they will be unable to pursue any further."
Another data window opened on the main monitor, this time displaying the lineups for each squadron. "Once again, Sayla and I will be in Gundam Units Beta and Gamma. Lieutenant Ray will be joining us in Unit Alpha."
Goddamnit, I should have known...! Amuro thought, suddenly feeling his gut tighten. Even so, he wisely kept his mouth shut as the Commander continued.
"The Gundams will give us a greater edge against the Zeeks, but again, make no mistake; it will take more than their power to win this fight. As such, I rely on you to perform at your best and see this mission through. Any questions?" Sleggar finished.
Another pilot, a tough-looking woman with dark red hair, raised her hand. "Just one Commander. If we are to avoid engaging Aznable at all costs, what will stop him from repeating Arcturus on us?"
At that, Sleggar let out a chuckle. "I almost forgot about that detail. Thanks, Karen." he then looked toward Amuro. "Lieutenant Ray will have the honor of holding the Comet down."
The reaction to that explanation was far from positive, as looks ranging from shock to outright doubt came across the Shrike pilots. However, none of them could match the fury that suddenly overcame Amuro at that point. "Are you out of your mind!?" he bellowed, creating even greater shock amongst the crowd. "It's bad enough that you're including me in this operation, but you're also sending me against that!?"
Sleggar looked back skeptically. "And why shouldn't I include you in this op?" he asked, sounding more amused by the display rather than put off. "You're a pilot, after all."
"I'm a test pilot. I'm not supposed to go into actual combat!" Amuro corrected vehemently.
"They say there's a first for everything," Sleggar replied. "And you already fought at Antillia, so..."
"That was because the damned Zeon attacked, and I had no choice!" Amuro bellowed back.
"And you think you do now?" Sleggar replied with his characteristic smirk.
Amuro cringed, taking a moment to measure his words carefully. "You already have Unit Beta and Gamma; why do you need me and Alpha?"
"Expertise, my young charge," Sleggar replied in a smoothened tone. "You know your machine far more than Lieutenant Mass, and I know ours. Sure, we can fight with them, but we don't know their full capabilities, whereas you're well aware of Unit Alpha's."
He turned serious again. "And that's what I'm relying on here. If we can't beat Aznable with skill alone, we'll use the Gundam's tech to our advantage."
"Even so...!" Amuro started to counter.
"Commander, if I may." Sayla suddenly spoke up, causing all attention to shift to her. "I would like to engage Aznable in Lieutenant Ray's place."
Sleggar raised an eyebrow. "Besides the obvious, may I ask why?"
Sayla's eyes narrowed. "With respect, I disagree with your assessment. Against an opponent such as Aznable, I believe experience and skill are needed more than technological gimmicks." Amuro glared at her for that, but she ignored him. "With Lieutenant Ray lacking experience and yourself being occupied with leading the attack, I believe I am the obvious choice."
Despite her words, Sleggar couldn't help but feel there was a lot more there, and he didn't fail to recall Sayla phasing out of the previous battle after a confrontation with Aznable's Zaku again. However, as Sayla wasn't saying anything else, Sleggar decided to stick with the given statement. "Sorry Sayla. You're good, but not that good. And even then, I'll need you more against the other Zakus because they'll be just as much a handful."
He then turned back to Amuro. "So once more, Lieutenant, the honor of taking on the Comet falls to you. Congratulations."
Amuro's narrowed even further. "Sir, you can't do this...!"
"On the contrary, I can and I have," Sleggar stated, now deciding that a little force was in order. "The fact is, I don't care if you are 'just' a test pilot. I don't care if you are involved in some top-secret project. I don't care if you got shanghaied into this fight by a series of strange and unfortunate events. Hell, I wouldn't have cared if President Hyran were your daddy," he emphasized, much to Amuro's growing displeasure. "I do care that you're on this ship now and can pilot a mobile suit. Maybe not expertly, but it's good enough for what I have assigned you."
Sleggar then stepped around the podium to face down the upstart Lieutenant. "And as the CAG of this particular vessel, you can damn well be sure I can assign you to anything, whether it be galley duty, waste disposal detail, or just being my personal bitch," he couldn't help but smile malevolently at Amuro's shock over that last one. "Maybe when we reach Earth, that will change, but until then, you're under my authority, and that means I can do whatever I please with you and that glorified action figure you pilot."
The Commander stepped closer until he was practically towering over Amuro. "That is all to say, Lieutenant. Whether you like it or not, you will be going out there with the rest of us. In fact, you will be doing so with or without your mobile suit or your pilot suit. So I suggest you comply willingly."
Amuro's glare intensified under the dressing down, but he said nothing more. That was good enough for Sleggar, who turned back to the rest of his pilots. "If there are no other questions..." he paused briefly for the reply, only for none to come. "Then this briefing is concluded. Good hunting. Dismissed!"
As the Ark Royal hummed with its engines lit and course set, Bright sat back against his chair and watched as the endless stream of white continued to enfold his ship. It was an all too familiar sight to him, to the point that he rarely even thought about it, even when it occurred in front of him. This time, however, he did think about it, but only how different it was now; at one time, when he was younger and of much lower rank, he would have received vertigo just from staring at it for too long, a common occurrence amongst "newbies" to space travel in itself. Now, though, with time and experience in sailing across the void, it was nothing of great note.
However, it appeared that he would not be looking at it for much longer. Katz suddenly began to speak up, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Now entering X-145 in seven... six... five... four... three... two... one...!"
All at once, the tunnel of light ended and was replaced by black and streaks of brown and grey in the distance. At this, Bright stood up from his chair and walked closer to the main monitor until he stood right next to the helm station and Katz. "Magnify."
The image was enlarged a second later until the asteroids practically took up the entire screen. Bright frowned at what he saw; some of those rocks looked bigger than the Royal herself, and there seemed to be an infinite number of them. Even so, he knew that this was their only chance; the alternative was running to Juno and hoping the Federation garrison there would intercept the Zeeks first, a far riskier and less precise strategy than wading through the asteroids, to be sure.
After looking at the asteroids for a moment longer, Bright turned and began returning to his chair, where he tapped the intercom switch. "All hands, this is Captain Noa. We are about to enter X-145's asteroid field. All damage control teams are now on standby alert. That is all."
He then turned to his XO. "Commander Yashima, please take the helm," he spoke as he moved back and sat down.
Katz looked back as though he had just been dishonorably discharged on the spot. However, that shocked gaze softened when Mirai came up, laid a hand on his shoulder, and then nodded at him when he looked back at her. Knowing what she and the captain meant by it, the young Ensign lifted himself out of his chair and attempted to walk, only to nearly trip. Able crew members soon came over and aided Katz to the doorway while Mirai sat at her new post.
With that transition complete, Bright faced forward. "Launch Gauntlet Squadron immediately."
With the order given, Kikka quickly relayed it to the waiting mobile suits. Seconds later, the main monitor was filled with Guncannons taking off from the catapult decks, of which there were twelve. Soon after the last was shot into space, the bulky grey machines launched themselves into the distance until they became indiscernible from the asteroids themselves. Further in, they disappeared into the distance, but everyone on the bridge knew they were very much out there.
Soon, Mirai's console beeped in confirmation. "Sensors and navigation are now slaved," she said. "Helm is at your command."
Despite the presented hazards, navigation through asteroid and debris fields was a far more common event than most spacers would care for. In one way or another, ships would wind up on routes that went through asteroid belts, nebulas, or even former battlefields and thus be forced to snake their way through the obstruction to their destination. And yet, a ship's sensors alone were usually inadequate in charting a course, as one didn't just have the objects in front of them to worry about, but the objects that could also move into the flight path.
For civilian craft of immense size, the standard protocol was to launch probes into the field and slave their sensors and navigation systems to the ship's own, thereby providing real-time data for effective navigation. Military protocol, or at least that of Earth's, wasn't too different; instead of probes, however, mobile suits were sent out because they usually held more powerful sensors than probes and were more adept at avoiding obstruction. Either way, the more probes or MS sent out, the more data could be acquired, and though the Ark Royal had over forty-eight stored within its hangar bays, a mere twelve would be enough to guide the ship through, or so her captain chose to believe.
With that in mind, Bright nodded back to Mirai. "Ahead one-third," he ordered. "Take us in."
Mirai complied and nudged the throttle, pushing down any reluctance, causing the Ark Royal to advance into the field. More than one crewmember held their breath as she did so, generating a tense feeling within the bridge. Both Bright and Mirai did their best to ignore it, even as the asteroids became far larger in the bridge monitor than they had before.
And then that tense feeling blew open as the ship rocked from its first impact. "Steady," Bright said with an intentionally calm voice. He quickly activated his holodisplay, which projected a virtual schematic of the Royal. It showed the impact on the port side hangar deck, but much to Bright's relief, there was no damage.
"Even with the mobile suits out there, I won't be able to dodge all of them, Captain," Mirai stated as she straightened the helm.
"I'm aware of that, Commander. Just do the best you can." Bright answered just as the deck pitched again. "We all knew this was going to be a bumpy ride..."
"Sir," Kikka spoke up from her post, inadvertently interrupting Bright's statement. "Commander Law reports that Shrike, Warhound, and Thunderbolt Squadrons may launch anytime."
Bright nodded. "Good." he then pulled up his left sleeve to reveal a chronometer. "Reply to the Commander that they are to launch in T-minus thirty minutes." he tapped a button on the chronometer, causing to begin its countdown. "Starting now."
29:56...
53... 52... 51...
Sitting in the cockpit of Unit Alpha, Amuro sighed as he waited for those last few seconds to end and for the launching to begin finally. He was third in the lineup for launch, with Commander Law in Unit Beta first and Lieutenant Mass in Unit Gamma second, both of which were already loaded on the catapult decks. From there, the Guncannons would launch not long after he did.
As he continued to wait, frustration and anger festered within his gut. Commander Law had gone out of his way not only to see that Amuro would take part in the mission but would have the duty of fighting one of the best pilots in Zeon's muster, even after the beating he had taken at Antillia. Amuro shivered at the thought; he barely survived that last fight, even with the support of the other two Gundams, so what in hell's heart possessed the Commander to think he was up for a second round? And more to the point, why was he so damn sure that he refused Lieutenant Mass' request to fight in his stead, even when the latter was a far better combat pilot than Amuro could ever hope to be?
Unfortunately, though, what was done was done, and there was nothing else Amuro could do about it, much to his internal anguish. As long as Commander Law had shoulder straps that bared dual stripes and diamonds apiece, he very well could order Amuro to take on the entire force alone and get away with it, especially when they were as far from Earth as they were. In that regard, Amuro hated taking orders from anyone. At the same time, he was enough of a professional and an officer that he couldn't bring himself to refute those orders, even if he wanted to. He could hate the CAG just as much as he hated Jean-Paul Bouchard before him, but he was going to follow command all the same, as much as it grated him.
And so there he was, ready to fight a battle that he knew he was unprepared for but willing to go out there all the same. Even so, his bitterness and reluctance remained. This isn't my war...
5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
"Commencing operation!" a CDC operator stated up front, simultaneously alerting all the mobile suit pilots. "All mobile suits, begin launching!"
Upon that mention, the new bane of Amuro's existence quickly sounded out. "Sleggar Law, Gundam Unit Beta, launch!"
From his position, Amuro couldn't see Unit Beta take off, but he could feel the vibrations caused by the catapults. Simultaneously, the elevator began to move Unit Alpha into the launch position. Amuro could only sit back and wait as the narrow passageway into asteroid-filled space became the center of his monitor. He grit his teeth at that, especially when the ship was struck by one of their number and vibrated wildly. The vibrations died soon enough, and Amuro really hoped that he wouldn't smack one of those rocks when his turn came.
"Sayla Mass, Gundam Unit Gamma, launch!" came the call from Sayla as Unit Gamma itself launched. Again, Amuro couldn't witness it beyond the vibrations, but he didn't care so much.
Soon enough, Amuro felt Unit Alpha's feet clamp down on the catapult, putting him into launch position. Then, status lights flashed green one after another to signal that he was ready. "Course is clear. Unit Alpha, go ahead, launch!"
Subconsciously, Amuro drew in a breath as his eyes narrowed at the space ahead. "Amuro Ray, Gundam Unit Alpha, taking off!"
Unit Alpha took off with a flash. A moment later, the grey mobile suit was free of the Ark Royal's hold and into the blackness, though it had to swerve around an asteroid or two before catching up to Beta and Gamma. Not far behind him, the Guncannons of Shrike Squadron were also catching up, and further behind them were the Warhound and Thunderbolt units, all maneuvering around the asteroids with as much ease.
"Shrike Leader to all units," Sleggar's voice came over the radio. "Assume formation and move out! Remember, while we know what direction the Zeeks will advance from, we don't know whether they'll remain together or split into separate units! That said, keep an eye out for anything suspicious."
"Roger!" came the unanimous reply from the assembled mobile suits, Amuro included. From there, it would be a nice, silent ride toward the battlefield, or so the Gundam test pilot hoped.
Zeon Rewloola-class battlecruiser Ralmel
System X-145
Being an experienced soldier and officer, Lieutenant Commander Nanai Miguel liked to think that she had a feel for how the Federation fought against her kind. Whenever the situation arose, the Lieutenant Commander could always follow a mental checklist of the various tactics and strategies the Feddies had used against Zeon, both reported and witnessed firsthand. Alongside this, she also kept a list of every noteworthy Federation officer and their own personal set of tactics and strategies in the back of her genetically engineered mind to call upon should an encounter ever occur. In that regard, Nanai might not have been as skillful a leader or tactician as Commander Aznable, but she was a competent Zeon officer.
With that stated, however, she was even baffled at what she had seen before her as she stared at the mass grouping of rock and metal. The same field that the enemy captain had taken his ship, a full fleetcarrier, into to evade the Zeon pursuit and cost them their Mirage Colloids and mobility. The commander had summarized it before they reached here, and the Ralmel's sensors had isolated the Ark Royal's particle trail into the field, but even so, Nanai could not believe any of it. In her experience, most Feddies preferred caution over boldness; the latter was more a Zeon trait, more or less a side effect of their enhancements and superior intellect. And yet, somewhere out there, one such Feddie had thrown caution out the airlock and embraced boldness to the letter, taking a great risk for a singular possibility.
Nanai could not keep the baffled expression off her face nor the feeling of begrudging respect for this Feddie from eclipsing her heart. Of course, this was countered by her hesitance to drive the Ralmel and the Mharne and Muskor into the field.
"Don't look so worried, Nanai," Char's holographic visage spoke. The commander was once more in his personalized Zaku, awaiting launch. "The odds are still in our favor."
"I understand that, sir," Nanai replied grimly. "But that doesn't mean we have a clear advantage either."
"True enough, but for our success, this will have to suffice," Char stated smoothly. "Now, give the order."
Nanai nodded, then looked forward. "All ships, decloak and advance!"
With a ghostly wale emanating through her hull, the crimson-hulled Ralmel materialized in view alongside the green hulls of her cruiser allies. Once they fully emerged, their main engines engaged, causing them to advance toward the field while their launch bays opened. Soon enough, Zakus, led by Char's unit, shot out from their catapults and moved into the field ahead of the warships, their sensors and navigation systems already slaved to their respective ships. Beam bazookas replaced the usual beam machine guns in their arsenal, at least for some of them.
For his part, Char had no problems moving around the asteroids; in fact, he was far more skillful at it than his fellow pilots. At the same time, however, that was not the real issue for him. He had already surmised the enemy commander's strategy: lead the Zeon into the asteroid field and then, while they are hindered, launch a mobile suit force to intercept them. He admitted such a strategy was fairly creative but, at the same time, not all that unpredictable; had Char been a lesser man, he probably would not have seen it coming, but he wasn't a lesser man. However, the question was exactly where the Federation attack force would intercept them, which Char didn't have a definitive answer to. As such, his best bet was to rely on his special senses to pick out the Feddies before the trap shut.
And that in itself was a problem. Unlike at Antillia, He couldn't use his special power to figure out the enemy's location beforehand, at least not willfully. To do so would risk alerting Artesia to his position, and while he had no doubt where her heart lay in this conflict, she could very well warn her Federation allies of the Zeons' advance. In fact, for all he knew, she could have seen him as a traitor and become even more determined to oppose him. As such, he could only use his powers passively.
Artesia... he thought, once again regretting his decision to leave her behind so long ago. But what choice had he held at the time? He decided not to think about it for much longer, instead concentrating on navigating the field.
Amuro's eyes suddenly widened as he felt a familiar surge run down his spine alongside familiar imagery in his mind. It took him by such surprise that he almost collided with an asteroid, but out of instinct alone, if nothing else, he managed to barrel roll out of the way at the last possible second. One of his fellow pilots attempted to hail him to see what the matter was, but he didn't answer; he was too focused on his sudden alertness.
Is that...? he thought, looking over his sensor displays while continuing onward. As he half-expected, they showed obstructions around him, but that didn't change his feelings. The Zeon were here.
Though he wasn't sure, he could summarize that the enemy force was directly in front of them some distance off, so if his group continued on its course, they would run right into them. The same "feeling" had also told him that while he was aware of them, no one else on the opposite side knew the Feds were coming just yet and that they were proceeding through the field under the assumption that the Royal hadn't deployed MS, aside from those that were helping it navigate the field. And just as well, he also "felt" that Char was there, leading the pack from the front but also unaware of the approaching attack.
With all that in mind, Amuro tapped a button and established a communication link with Unit Beta: "Unit Alpha to Shrike Leader."
A moment later, Commander Law's image appeared on his monitor. "Shrike One here. Go ahead, Alpha."
"Commander, the Zeon are directly ahead of us," Amuro said, trying to establish the exact coordinates mentally. "Around three-five-one, mark one-one-six and closing. We should be over them in a few minutes."
The Commander raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know this?"
Amuro opened his mouth but had difficulty coming up with the words. "I... just feel them out there, sir. I can't explain how."
For a short moment, Sleggar was tempted to disregard Amuro's readings as a product of rookie tension, but just as he was about to tell the young Lieutenant to stop the useless chatter, something in him halted his reply. That same something also gave him the strange notion that the Gundam test pilot may be right in his reading and that he should at least check on it. Deciding to follow that advice, Sleggar established a comlink with Unit Gamma. "Lead to Two, scan ahead to three-five-one, mark one-one-six."
Upon those orders, Sayla looked toward the horizon and narrowed her eyes. Soon enough, her mind became filled with imagery of the Zeon warships and MS, still far away from her perspective but easily discernable, as well as her human presence. Getting what she needed, she quickly replied. "Two to Lead, the Zeon are there and closing," she then thought about that. "How did you know?"
Sleggar blinked himself at that confirmation. I'll be damned. We really got them dead center. "Alpha picked them up. Don't ask me how," Sleggar replied before switching to the unit push. "Shrike Leader to all units, the Zeeks are ahead. Repeat: the Zeon are directly ahead of us. Move to Ambush Pattern Omega and standby to attack."
As soon as the command went out, the attack force halted their advance and scatted, each MS taking cover amongst an asteroid under Ambush Pattern Omega. From there, Guncannons settled in, folding their trademark weapons over their shoulders while carefully aiming with their beam rifles, ready to fire immediately.
Sayla followed on this, quickly taking cover on the same asteroid as Unit Alpha. She looked out at the other Gundam curiously as she settled in; that was the second time Lieutenant Ray had detected an incoming threat before she could. And indeed, she did feel a strong presence from the fellow Lieutenant whenever she turned her power upon him, one that was almost completely different from any other being she had encountered. However, now wasn't the time to contemplate that, not with the Zeon practically in their killzone. As such, she stuck to business, shifting Unit Gamma's bazooka toward the direction the Zeon were coming from. Forgive me, Casval. she thought as she focused.
From his position behind another asteroid, Sleggar could depict the red Rewloola and accompanying green Musakas in the distance, alongside the Zaku escorts, which were swerving around the rocks just as he and his had done earlier. Indeed, they were coming in fast and blind, just as Amuro and Sayla had said. Not only is there a God, but from this, he's clearly on our side.
He quickly called out again. "Shrike Ten, do you read?"
"Right here, Shrike One." Lieutenant Terry Sanders replied, waving the right hand of his unique Guncannon toward Unit Beta. Unlike the other Guncannons and the Gundams, Sanders' unit was a specialized unit, identifiable by the single cannon barrel that came over its right shoulder and a special weapons targeting sensor module on its left, alongside somewhat more modular armor on its chassis.
That unit was the Guncannon Buster, a specialty mobile suit designed to hit targets with the firepower of a warship in the form of a high-powered mega beam cannon that had replaced the standard Guncannon weapons. Up to the Gundams' debut, it had been the most offensively powerful MS. However, this came at the cost of an unstable power system, which kept the type from being as heavily produced as other Guncannon variants. Even so, Sanders had somehow managed to get his hands on one, and now it served as the Big Fucking Gun of Shrike Squadron, if not the 13th Carrier Assault Group as a whole. Thatwas why Sleggar was giving Sanders the honor of the first shot.
"You locked and loaded?" Sleggar continued, feeling anticipation well up toward seeing that BFG fire again.
"Damn right, I am," Sanders replied, also sounding anticipating. "Already got a bead on one of the cruisers. Just give the word."
Sleggar's grin increased another fraction. "You may fire when ready, Gridley."
Char was rounding another asteroid when it felt like the Hammer of God struck down the steel of the universe. Seemingly out of nowhere, a massively powerful magenta beam lanced out. It struck against the port side of the Mharne, piercing straight through the hull and exiting the other side, thoroughly gutting the light cruiser's insides and causing her main powerplant to go critical. No more than a split-second later, the entire ship detonated with one resounding flash, turning into an expanding field of flame and wreckage. Char could only cringe as he felt her crew vanish in their ship's demise. "All units, evade!"
He would soon realize his command came out too late, as one by one, more bolts of energy erupted from the asteroids and launched themselves onto the beleaguered Zeon mobile suits, all of whom had been caught in the relative open. All at once, three Zakus went down from the rain of magenta beams, while even more were damaged or outright maimed in some way before they could properly evade. The Ralmel and the Muskor didn't escape damage either, as several more beams, including those fired by that enhanced cannon, fell upon them, destroying several of their gun emplacements and battering their hulls right down their respective bows. The ships and the mobile suits attempted to fire back at their attackers, but they could not precisely line up their targets.
Running almost on instinct alone, Char was one of the few that came out unscathed. As each blast rang out, he banked his Zaku to and fro, narrowly avoiding each shot as if dancing around them. Once he managed to work his way to a brief pause, he twisted his suit's mono-eye around and focused on the fire's origin point. Sure enough, he saw a large grouping of Guncannons and the three new models hiding out in the asteroids and firing away in rapid succession.
There can be only one reason why I didn't sense their approach... Char thought grimly. Indeed, he had predicted this strategy yet had walked mindlessly into it all the same. The only explanation was that special senses had been nullified by another person with similar power, much like jammed sensors. And it didn't take too many guesses to figure out who exactly.
He quickly switched his comm system over to broadband. "Rote One to all units! There are at least thirty Federation suits directly ahead of us! Ralmel and Muskor, provide covering fire! All others, advance!"
Upon that command, the cruiser and the battlecruiser's main guns blasted forward as the Zakus went into a full charge, Char's unit at the head. Now detected and under heavy fire from the capital ships, the Federation suit had no choice but to abandon their cover, flying out from the asteroid like a collection of fireflies evading a thrown rock. To their credit, however, they, too, charged at their enemy, and soon enough, that portion of X-145's asteroid field became a full battleground as Zakus and Guncannons weaved around one another continuously.
I underestimated you, Artesia. Char thought grimly as he took to the battle, gunning down a Guncannon Trooper with a precise bazooka shot as he passed. I did not believe you could block out my power; you wouldn't have been able to years ago. Indeed, you have grown into a powerful warrior...
A flow of warnings coming through his mind quickly interrupted his thoughts. Shooting his mobile suit backward, he watched as yet another beam lanced down to where he had been, this one more powerful than the others (save for the ones fired first). From there, Char turned up in time to see one of the new models charging at him, firing bazooka shot after bazooka toward his position, only for him to evade each shot as easily as he had been. He didn't need to guess which of the three that unit was, not with that kind of pressure.
"So we meet again, fledgling," Char smirked as he again banked and fired back with his hip-mounted missile launchers, which the new model deflected with its beam shield. He then attempted to move away to go after the other Guncannons, but his enemy once more shot into his flight path and intercepted him. It didn't take much for Char to figure out what the enemy unit was doing.
"Trying to hold me back, are you?" Char spoke dismayed as he tried to fly around the new model, only for it to move into his flight path yet again. It figured as much; the only way the Feddies could do real damage would be if he were held back, so they sent the one unit that could outpace him to do just that. Thus, if Char wanted to turn things around, he would have to take out this enemy first, which he had failed to do at Antillia even when it had been fighting him alone. All the while, things went to hell around him.
Even so, he again smirked at the challenge as he flitted around the grey Federation mobile suit and vice versa. "Very well then. I shall teach you that even your mobile suit has limits," he stated before pressing the attack. "Especially when it goes against the Red Comet!"
And so the battle began with what would have been a thunderous salvo had it not been for the fact there was no such thing as sound in the depths of space. All the same, Sayla charged with the rest of her comrades, bazooka at the ready, and her targets arrayed in front of her. During that charge, she peered to the side to see Unit Alpha begin its rematch with the Red Comet. She sneered agitatedly at that, not so much at Unit Alpha's pilot, but because it should have been her in that fight, for more reasons than anyone realized. Unfortunately, Sleggar's orders stood, and violating them would arouse more suspicion than she cared to have toward herself. Thus, she returned to her battle with one last glance toward the grey Gundam and the red Zaku in the distance. Damn the Fates for denying me this chance...
With a nudge on her foot pedals, Unit Gamma dove into the fight, narrowly avoiding bazooka and machine gun fire from the Zakus, alongside cannon fire from the capital ships, with practiced maneuvering. She wasn't entirely used to the Gundam yet, but at least she got a decent handle on it now, allowing her to pull off maneuvers and evasions that she would never have been able to do in a Guncannon. As she did so, she returned fire herself with her bazooka, but aside from blasting one Zaku to kingdom come, she failed to hit anything significant. At least initially.
It was not long before the Zeon moved to attack her. Before she knew it, two Zakus diverted away from the rest of the pack and launched after her, firing their bazookas and a torrent of missiles from their hip-mounted launchers. It didn't take much for Sayla to evade both the blasts and the rockets, while for those she couldn't avoid, she simply shot out of space with her vulcans. She then let loose her bazooka again, striking one Zaku through the center and obliterating it while the other pressed for the attack. Taking its comrade's death to heart, the second unit quickly abandoned its bazooka in favor of its beam axe and charged for a melee kill. Sayla responded by reaching up with her left beam gauntlet and shattering the axe-wielding arm at the elbow. She followed this with a well-placed kick to the Zaku's chest, sending it flying away and leaving it open to another bazooka shot to finish it off.
"All units maintain approach!" Sleggar commanded as Unit Beta came barreling in, three more Zakus already moving to attack it. Rather than fire back at them, Sleggar leveled his bazooka and fired it into a nearby asteroid, fracturing it and raining shards into the trio. One Zaku was destroyed immediately, while the two others were only stunned. Sayla quickly set about against one, stowing her bazooka and drawing a beam saber, her favorite weapon in the Gundam's arsenal, before moving in and slashing the Zaku in half. Sleggar himself took out the remaining Zaku with another potshot.
Despite the Zeons' hardened resistance, Sayla could feel her side slowly overwhelming them. Indeed, she could see Zakus being driven back by Guncannons in nearly all vectors while panic and indecision were rampant among the Zeon ranks. It also didn't help that the Zeon pilots were unused to maneuvering in crowded space, making them more susceptible to the Guncannons' concentrated firepower. There also seemed to be a gap in overall skill between the Zeon pilots and the Federals, one that hadn't been present with the Antillia garrison.
Unfortunately, however, the fight wasn't entirely one-sided, as she saw another Zaku team cornering one group of Guncannons from Warhound Squadron, obliterating them with a concentration of machine gun fire. Cursing at that, she launched Unit Gamma forward and systematically cut down the Zakus with her still-lit beam saber. The last one made a valiant attempt at firing its missiles at point blank, to which she evaded, moved around the Zaku, and reverse thrust her saber directly through the Zeon suit's back and cockpit.
If there's one consolation to all this, at least I get to fight with something greater than a Guncannon... she thought toward her machine, just as she withdrew her sword and moved away, searching for new targets. Yes, she had piloted Unit Gamma before at Antillia, but it was only now that she was getting a full feel for its power. A power that was well beyond anything she had ever comprehended in a mobile suit. The power of a Gundam...
Up above, she tracked yet another Zaku leveling off its bazooka for a sweeping blast, just as the two others of its team charged with their axes drawn. Sayla predatorily glared at their approach, charging in as well.
Amuro forced the raw panic back into himself as the red Zaku stormed after him again. Swinging back his bazooka, he fired several potshots at the enemy machine, only to watch the so-called Red Comet dance around each shot; he wasn't even banking now, just twisting and turning in space with minor jets from his suit's foot thrusters. Toward the last second, the Zaku redrew its bazooka, righted itself, and fired its beam at Unit Alpha. Amuro responded by flitting away.
"Goddammit!" Amuro shouted as he attempted to fire back, only for the red Zaku to make a show of his attempts to kill it again. This duel for the Unit Alpha test pilot was even worse than the previous one at Antillia. The fear was also a lot more tangible. "You won't get me that easily!"
The Zaku's apparent response was to casually dodge a few more of Amuro's shots before stowing its bazooka. Then, with a certain flourish, it drew its beam axe and gunned its thrusters toward the Gundam. Realizing what was about to happen, Amuro pumped shot after shot from his bazooka, but once more, the red Zeon machine evaded his attacks more easily than Amuro thought should have been possible. It turned and twisted as it came down until it was almost face-to-face with the grey mobile suit. In a panic, Amuro fired his vulcans, but Char merely responded by evading and chopping its bazooka at the barrel. Fortunately, Amuro recovered quickly and attempted to drive his right-handed gauntlet into the Zaku's cockpit, but Char was again quick to evade.
The test pilot glowered at the Zaku as it responded to his attack with a hip missile spray of its own, one that was so close that he could proverbially spit on the incoming projectiles. Jetting to the right, he dove behind a nearby asteroid and drew the missiles into it, causing them to explode against the rock. Unfortunately, his opponent followed up by rearming his bazooka and firing a shot into where the missiles had detonated, turning the asteroid into raining fragments that slammed against Unit Alpha. Amuro managed to deflect most of the asteroids with his beam shields, only for the Zaku to charge in for the kill, and the beam axe was raised for an overhead strike. Barely having milliseconds to respond, Amuro fired another burst from his vulcans to force the Zaku to engage its beam shield just before he flitted some distance away again.
Immediately after returning to normal space, Amuro drew one of his beam sabers and shot after the red Zaku, which could just turn around and deflect his attack with its axe blade. Both mobile suits quickly exchanged high-speed slashes and parries for a time, just before Char managed to knock away Amuro's sword and then slash at Unit Alpha's head, which Amuro could barely deflect with his beam shield. In response, Char used his opposite arm and punched his opponent in the torso just before bringing the axe down and leaving a large gash in Unit Alpha's chest. Had Amuro not jetted back at the last millisecond, it would have certainly hit the cockpit.
Such power! Amuro managed to think hurriedly as the Zaku stepped up its assault, slashing increasingly at the Gundam in waves. Amuro managed to deflect each slash out of sheer desperation, but only barely. I'm being beaten back again!
Then, with great suddenness, the Zaku charged in and executed a spiked shoulder tackle, sending Unit Alpha flying backward. With a hard smash, Amuro felt himself fling back against his chair just as blood trickled out from his nose. Then, through a combination of blurry eyes, blood droplets floating in his helmet, and terror in his gut, he saw the Zaku ready its axe for another strike, which Amuro instinctively raised his saber to parry.
However, before the blow could come, the red machine froze in its motion, its mono-eye turning to the right, back toward the main battlefield. It was obvious that Char was getting a message from one of the Zeon ships, likely informing him that the Federation suits were breaking through or causing heavy damage to the Zeek forces. Whatever it was, the Zaku quickly stowed its axe away, turned around, and shot in that direction with a fair amount of exhaust.
Amuro moved again in front of the Zaku without a second thought and brought down his saber against the red machine's axe. Holding their blades together momentarily, Amuro stared deep into the Zeon unit's mono-eye, again feeling the fear and panic inside him threaten to boil over as he did so. He held his ground regardless.
"Commander Law ordered me to keep you away," Amuro muttered, trying to ignore the feeling of his beating heart threatening to rip out of his chest. "I won't let you anywhere near the others!"
With that, he threw the axe aside and attempted to slash at the Zaku's chest, but the red machine immediately flitted away and attempted to move around. Amuro quickly intercepted again, and once more, their blades met.
I can't believe it. We're winning this! Ensign Hayato Kobayashi, Shrike Eleven, thought as he poured more fire from his Guncannon Trooper's shoulder cannons and beam rifle at the various targets before him. Indeed, unless his monitors were somehow lying to him, his side was winning; slowly but surely, the number of enemy mobile suits was dwindling, and those that remained were having great difficulty holding back the Federation tide. Several of them were already drawing back against the onslaught; in that regard, Hayato found the prospect of Zakus fleeing before him to be strange but quite welcome. All this, thanks to Commander Law's gambit of throwing a rookie in the most advanced mobile suit ever conceived against one of Zeon's leading aces.
Hayato himself hadn't thought much of Lieutenant Ray, a sentiment likely shared with the rest of Shrike Squadron, but that mattered very little. So long as the whiney "test pilot" held the Red Comet in check and allowed everyone else to take on the rest of the Zeeks in stride, the Ensign didn't mind having him around. But that in itself could wait until after the battle; for the time being, he had targets to try and blow up.
"And look at them run!" Ensign Kai Shiden, Shrike Twelve, called out as he hurtled his Trooper into the melee, firing his cannons rapidly. A few of his shots managed to graze or blow off limbs on one or two Zakus, though he had yet to destroy anything. Of course, knowing Kai as Hayato did, he likely didn't care as much as he got to scare the Zeeks. "We're beating them down! Can you believe it, Hayato?"
"Concentrate on your fire, Twelve. You're not hitting anything vital," Hayato stated as he fired a beam rifle shot that landed square in the torso of one Zaku. The beam easily penetrated the mobile suit's armor plating and blew out the cockpit before causing the rest of the suit to detonate. At that, Hayato took a moment to smirk at his handiwork; that made his third kill in the war. He then fired at another Zaku, but this time, his beam shot was deflected by the Zeon mobile suit's beam shield. The mono-eyed giant quickly turned its beam machine gun on the obstinate Guncannon, but by that point, Hayato was maneuvering, firing back with his shoulder cannons.
Before he could take a proper shot, however, another Trooper came upon the Zaku from behind and quickly latched itself on the Zeon mobile suit. Right as the pilot realized what was happening, the Guncannon lowered its main guns and shot them point blank into the green mobile suit, obliterating its entire torso and turning the remainder into halves. It quickly flitted away before either half exploded.
"That was my kill, Three!" Hayato bellowed over the radio at the newbie mobile suit.
"You would have taken too long anyway, Eleven!" Ensign Daniel Schoenberg, Shrike Three, replied as his suit raised its beam rifle in triumph, flashing his unit's visor. "Seriously, by the time you nailed it, another one would have snuck behind and..."
Suddenly, a single, wide magenta blast erupted from Daniel's right side, several meters away from his own back, interrupting his statement and making him yelp in surprise while ascending. As he, Hayato, and Kai looked back, they saw a Zaku's freshly severed bottom torso and right arm, which was gripping a beam axe, start to float away in opposite directions, and the rest of the unit vaporized in the blast. Immediately, they turned to see Lieutenant Sanders' Guncannon Buster fly into their midst, energy glowing off the barrel of its singular cannon.
"I trust even you recognize the irony of that last sentence, Shrike Three," Sanders smoothly stated as he shot up to the trio, who began flying together.
"Damn it, Lieutenant, you almost made me wet my pilot suit!" Daniel nearly cried out to the newcomer, Shrike Squadron's third team leader. "As if shooting that cannon alone isn't bad enough! You could have taken one of us with you!"
Hayato kept his mouth shut, but he, too, felt a little edgy being that close to the Buster. The unit's mega beam cannon was powerful but unstable with that same power, and worse yet, it was tied directly to its reactor, which meant any power surges from the cannon would also affect it. Accidents were known to happen with the Buster, and several were fatal to the pilot and his wingmen.
However, Sanders took the risk and Daniel's statement in stride for his part. "Please, my Buster is too badass to pre-detonate," he stated with a sly grin before turning his suit back to the battlefield, specifically to the enemy warships. "Now form up. We're going to make a run on that pretty red battlecruiser."
"Roger!" the three subordinate pilots acknowledged at once, all four mobile suits shooting full speed toward the Zeon battlecruisers in the not-so-far-off distance.
Several other Guncannons were already attacking the Rewloola and remaining Musaka, and the warships were sporting additional damage to what they had taken during the initial part of the battle. Even so, neither the battlecruiser nor the cruiser was dead yet and were throwing up a large screen of beam fire to ensure it remained that way. Some of that fire came directed toward Hayato's group, as did several Zakus, but they had no issue avoiding potential onslaught as they progressed.
As they drew closer, Hayato could make out either ship, namely the dagger-shaped Rewloola, in greater detail. Indeed, they were different from his side's craft. In contrast, Federation warships were staunchly military ships based on the design philosophies of ancient Earth maritime vessels, and the Zeek ships looked alien and almost demonic in comparison. That made them all the more terrifying to behold, as it gave one the impression that these ships weren't made by human hands, almost as if they had come out of Hell itself. Considering what the Zeeks were, that assessment was likely not so far from reality.
As the four Guncannons closed in on their single target, the Rewloola's beam phalanx and missile ports ignited, raining beams and missiles into their path. Hayato quickly put his Guncannon into evasion, as did the other three, narrowly evading the battlecruiser's attempts to deflect them. Once his sensors indicated he was in range, Hayato brought up his cannons and quickly fired shots into the Rewloola's port side, blasting away the bow beam cannon turret mounted there and adding a few more holes in the hull itself. At that damage, the anti-air beam phalanxes' volume increased toward him, forcing Hayato to evade again and engage his beam shield to deflect the other blasts.
Besides him, the rest of his team also moved into attack. After passing through the mesh of yellow beams, Kai quickly let out his own beam rifle shots, picking off several of the beam phalanx turrets. Daniel moved toward the underside and let loose his twin cannons against the ventral hangar bay, blowing it open before turning his weapons along the bow. And then there was Lieutenant Sanders, who attempted to make a run on the bridge but could not get past the wall of defensive fire, forcing him to divert away to the starboard side. On that, he fired a sweeping shot from his mega beam cannon that scorched through the battlecruiser's spherical external power generators, moving from stern to bow, vaporizing much of the vessel's internal decking. Unfortunately, he couldn't use the MBC's full power as he had against the Musaka earlier, but it still inflicted much damage on the Zeon warship.
Almost in a rhythm, Hayato tapped his trigger assembly repeatedly as he flew above the battlecruiser's topside, sending more cannon and rifle shots raining down upon it. One of his shots managed to blow away the beam cannon behind the bridge tower; the Federation pilot grimaced as he had been aiming for the building itself. Even so, the damage was done along with everything else, and the enemy warship suffered heavily. By now, burnt-out armor and holes covered almost every portion of the ship, with flames jetting out from some of them in different trails. Yet somehow, despite the onslaught, the Rewloola remained intact and continued to fire back against its attackers.
Have to hand it to the Zeeks. They don't go down easily, even when the disadvantage is theirs. Hayato thought as he passed by for another attack. However, neither he nor his comrades got that far, as two more Zakus intervened to protect the near-stricken Rewloola. Hayato grit his teeth together as he is forced back into fighting mobile suits again.
With a surge of thrust, Unit Beta dove backward, avoiding a beam machine gun burst from a Zaku and then firing back with a bazooka shot of its own. The Zaku could evade that shot but not the follow-up, which resulted in its entire right arm assembly being blown away. Sleggar quickly riddled the damaged mobile suit with vulcan fire, eventually causing the whole unit to detonate. He smirked at the flare it gave off before turning away.
Pausing momentarily, Sleggar brought his Gundam upward, at least from his perspective, before pausing to gain a sweeping view of the battle. Indeed, even though the fight wasn't over, he felt like patting himself on the back. The remaining Zeek warships were heavily damaged, and only a few Zakus were remaining, though it was taking some effort from his side to shoot them down, even with Sayla's support with Unit Gamma. And while he didn't have a visual of Unit Alpha and its red adversary, the fact Aznable had yet to appear only meant that Amuro was doing well in tying him down. Indeed, everything was going as well as he hoped it to be.
Of course, that latter fact also caused Sleggar to sigh with regret. "Why can't they all be this smooth?" he muttered to the void in a tone too low to be picked up by his comm system. "Better yet, why can't the rest of the war be this smooth?"
His warning system soon began to blare as if to break his thoughts: he was being targeted. Immediately, he jetted away from his original position, and twin yellow beams flew past. Quickly, Sleggar scanned for and soon found the source of those beams: the remaining Musaka cruiser, which was firing at him with its remaining main cannon. The vessel had certainly taken a pounding; much of its hull was battered and on fire, while its starboard hangar bay and launch catapult were all completely blasted away. Besides the cannon it was shooting at Sleggar with, the rest of its mega beam guns were obliterated alongside its missile launchers and a slew of its beam phalanxes. It also seemed to have lost most of its main thrusters, while the readings from Sleggar's computer indicated its power systems were also failing. It was a stricken ship, yet her crew refused to abandon her; they seemed more interested in fighting him to the last.
At that, Sleggar's mouth again folded into a full grin. Such determination is commendable, even for Zeeks, he thought as he maneuvered. At first, he aimed with his bazooka, but then, on second thought, he holstered it. I'll finish you off in style.
With that, he set Unit Beta down on a nearby asteroid, from which he directly faced the cruiser. Then, believing that the Zeon bridge crew were gazing back at him, he raised Unit Beta's left hand, with the back facing the cruiser while flexing the fingers into a semi-grip. Magenta energy soon glowed from the beam gauntlet port as Sleggar focused power, casting an eerie light around the hand before vaulting off the asteroid.
Dodging one blast after another, he quickly gunned Unit Beta's thrusters to full power. His grin became even larger, almost manic, as he knew the Zeeks were pissing themselves at both his advance and his words. After narrowly avoiding the cruiser's anti-air fire, Sleggar flew up to Musaka's bridge tower and ascended at the last possible second. From there, he ascended and arced over the bridge before bringing his mobile suit's right arm forward, energy blazing out from its palm.
Upon impact, Unit Beta obliterated the entire bridge, then continued downward until it drove itself all the way through the cruiser's underbelly. The sheer force of the attack was enough to split the cruiser down the middle, with both halves soon detonating completely and leaving only free-flying debris behind.
Once more, Sleggar paused to appreciate his handiwork. "Damn, I kick ass," he stated before flying off for additional prey.
"We just lost the Muskor!" Nanai called out over the comm circuit. "We're not going to last much longer, Rote One!"
Damn, I got careless. Char thought disparagingly as he dodged another burst of vulcan fire, only his opponent to roll to his side and force him to deflect a beam saber attack. "Just hang on, Nanai! I'll be there soon!"
Quickly, Char knocked the grey mobile suit away so that he could bring up his bazooka again. From there, he fired several more shots, but the Federation machine could dodge each one of them. It then attempted to move behind the red Zaku and bring its left hand to its back, obviously to use the palm-mounted beam weapon, but Char could backflip and jet out of the way. He then attempted to take a rearward bazooka shot, but again, the enemy suit dodged his attack.
Char glared as the Federation mobile suit pursued him through the asteroid field, having no problems weaving around the free-floating rocks no matter what direction Char sent his Zaku. The Red Comet knew when he attempted to divert to the main battlefield. It would intercept him again; he couldn't have that, not when he could not overpower the Federation machine. And even as he maneuvered around one asteroid after another, he knew he was only delaying the inevitable; as much as he didn't like to think about it, the Federation's new model was much faster than his Zaku and would have no trouble catching up to him if given a straight flight path.
Only one thing to do, and that's take him out in one blow. Char thought as he barrel-rolled around another asteroid, then banked to his right, leaving a contrail of thrust behind. Sure enough, the grey mobile suit followed and, after executing similar maneuvers, gunned its thrusters and closed the gap between the two, beam saber brandished. Instantly, Char twisted his Zaku around and deflected the attack with his beam shield, giving him enough time to redraw his axe and counterattack. After he knocked away the beam saber, he again took flight through the asteroids, the Federation machine pursuing relentlessly while banking in and out to attack itself.
Their battle continued like that, with both mobile suits flitting around the asteroids and attempting to attack the other with their respective melee weapon. Had anyone witnessed their battle, they could only depict either mobile suit as red and grey streaks that continuously intertwined with the other before moving away again at full burn. If nothing else, the battle would have been certainly spectacular to behold.
Amid it, Char reached out with his special senses until they nearly encompassed that whole section of the asteroid field. He saw outward into his surroundings and toward his opponent, not the mobile suit, but the pilot manipulating it. He could feel the pilot's instinctive drive as if it were tangible; at this point, the Federation pilot was so focused on keeping him away that he was barely processing thought, though his fear toward Char remained at a certain level. Char could also tell that this boy had the same senses as he and Artesia possessed and was using them, once more if only instinctively, to keep up with the Red Comet just as Char used his to do the same.
And once again, despite the boy's inexperience and relative clumsiness, Char could feel that certain power, which he thought at Antillia, begin to well itself up from the depths of the Federation pilot's being. A power that has even now mystified Char completely.
But he had no way of contemplating that in the heat of combat, and even if he did, that wasn't what he was focusing on. Instead, he kept himself aware of his surroundings instead of strictly remaining on the mobile suit and his pilot, to such a degree that he could almost count the asteroids if he wanted to. He remained as such, even as he kept intersecting with the grey mobile suit and either attacking it or deflecting the opponent's attack until the opportunity he sought came upon him...
There! Char's mind called out as the enemy mobile suit moved to strike at him again. Rather than counterattack with his beam axe, however, he deflected the oncoming strike with his beam shield and then gunned his thrusters, allowing him to deliver a shoulder barge into the enemy suit. Putting all power into his mobile suit's drive systems, the Red Comet once again lived up to his monicker, launching across space with his target, driving it into a nearby asteroid. The impact was such that it kicked up a massive dust cloud across the giant rock.
When the dust settled, and Char had disengaged his cloak, his Zaku now stood with a foot on the Federation mobile suit's chest. The pilot was unconscious, as Char was no longer picking up great energy from his presence, and the mobile suit itself didn't struggle under his hold. Char quickly brandished his axe and engaged the gleaming yellow blade, ready to finish off his would-be opponent. "And thus it ends," he murmured toward the now dimmed dual-eye cameras as he raised his axe and swung down.
And then, with the suddenness of a lightning bolt, Char stopped his attack, mere meters above the mobile suit's cockpit block. During that action, Char's felt his lips draw back into a small, barely noticeable smirk. "No," he spoke in a near-quiet voice, deactivating and reholstering the axe. "No, you will live on."
He knew he was close enough for the enemy suit's comm system to pick up his broadcast, but he didn't care. He hoped on some level that the Federation pilot heard what he had to say. "If only for the power I sense inside you, you will live on so that you will become the bane of all that is 'Emperor' Gihren's Zeon. You will give the Federation the edge it needs to beat back the Empire so that the Zabis may be completely wiped away and Zeon can be returned to its proper rulership. So that all may be reset to its proper course."
Despite his words, however, a certain part of Char's mind urged him to finish the Feddie regardless; in fact, it was all but screaming that Char was making the worst mistake he would ever make in this life and that he and the rest of the galaxy would suffer from his inaction. Indeed, there was always the possibility that the boy may grow into a force within itself that may set itself against Char himself, alongside everything he represented.
Even so, Char was resolved in his own words; for the time being, that boy would be a threat to the Zabis, a much-needed threat he could exploit in the future. As such, he beat back the temptation and turned his Zaku away. "Do not disappoint me," he spoke before returning to the main battle.
Sayla swore loudly as her Zaku opponent wailed at her with great might with his beam axe. Until now, she had no particular difficulty with her Zeon adversaries, but this specific pilot seemed to be of greater skill than their comrades. After all, they were holding against her, and she was anything but average. At least up to that point.
Feeling more annoyed than put back, she let rip with her vulcans, only for the Zaku to bring up its beam shield. Sayla throttled her Gundam to full power and tackled the Zaku with great force. Then, swiftly, she brought her right saber up and slashed at the Zaku but only managed to cut away its right leg before it ascended. She pursued and moved to slash again, but the Zaku deflected her attacks with axe parries.
It will take more than that to stop me. she thought as she increased the ferocity of her attacks, forcing the Zaku to defend more and more. Sure enough, her efforts paid off, as she managed to cut away the Zaku's right arm at the shoulder, depriving it of its axe and beam shield in one go. The Zeon pilot then made the mistake of lunging at her with a spiked shoulder barge, to which she performed zero gravity bunny hop, moved directly behind the green mobile suit, and easily bifurcated it through the cockpit. Both halves floated in opposite directions, with neither exploding, while Sayla quickly slipped away in search of her next victim.
From her sensor readings, Sayla could see that there weren't too many Zakus remaining and that the number was dwindling more rapidly now. As such, she turned her efforts toward finishing the Rewloola, which was now making some effort to retreat once and for all. That wouldn't take too long; the battlecruiser was almost entirely deprived of its armament, and its hull was battered with gashes and flaming refuse. All the Federation pilot merely needed was to fire a few more bazooka shots into it to destroy it completely. As such, she had just started her attack toward the bleeding red battlecruiser when she felt a surge of warning run through her system. And just as she turned her head toward the source of that warning, she heard dreadful words come over her comlink.
"It's the Red Comet!" someone screamed out. Sure enough, a red Zaku soon appeared in visual range and was already firing bazooka shots toward the assorted Guncannons. Several were quickly obliterated, while others managed to dodge the initial attacks.
"Daniel!" Sayla heard another pilot, Shrike Eleven, she believed, call out as another Guncannon exploded. She cursed at that. Was Amuro taken out?
From that, she reached out into the field and, much to her relief, she found that the Unit Alpha pilot was still alive and his mobile suit intact, only incapacitated. They could easily be retrieved after it was over. For now, though, Sayla reignited her beam saber and shot after the Zaku, ready to have her confrontation. "This is Shrike Two! I'm engaging the Comet!"
"Negative Two, do not engage! Repeat, do not engage Aznable!" Sleggar replied over the comlink. "Shrike Leader to all units, disengage and pull back to the Ark! We've done all we can here; no way in hell the Zeeks can follow us now."
Certain obscenities, words that she would never allow herself to utter verbally, began to well up in Sayla's mind at those orders. And yet even so, at the sight of the retreating Federation suits on one end, equally retreating and far more damaged, Zeon on the other, she understood their reasoning. Even with the Red Comet still active, the Zeon could not pursue the Ark Royal any further, much less mount a strengthened attack against them. As such, there was no more need to risk their lives, especially against an opponent like Char Aznable.
Thus, with great reluctance, Sayla bit back the temptation to ignore those orders and quickly replied. "Two to Lead, I'm picking up Unit Alpha's signal some ways off. He's down and out but still active. I'm moving to retrieve him."
"Acknowledged Two. Don't take long." Sleggar acknowledged before having Unit Beta head off with the Guncannons.
And so, sparing one last glance toward the retreating Rewloola and Zakus, the last of which was Char Aznable's undamaged unit, Sayla turned away and headed toward where she was picking up Amuro's presence. Despite her displeasure for not fulfilling her objectives, she took solace in one simple fact.
For whatever it was worth, her side had won this day.