[X][Sicilia] Little Sis will pilot the Mobile Armor, but purely in a defensive role.
To be honest, you're not 100% certain this is going to work, but you're going up against an escorted Mobile Armor, the capabilities of which are unknown. Still, what Christina said about the Dendrobium is sticking with you. Highly mobile, meant to take on multiple Mobile Suits and ships at once, and come out on top… Sure, the design is about as old as you, but she said that this MA only resembled the Dendrobium in layout. If true, does that mean that this is an updated design?
If so, you're dead without a Mobile Armor of your own… even if it's only to bring an I-Field onto the battlefield. Your own I-Field is too small to provide cover for more than one ally, after all.
"Okay, Sicilia, you'll fly this Mobile Armor." You say, "I want you to be our defense, alright? No attacking unless necessary. Your main role is to provide cover for us with your I-Field."
"Alright, Cybele!" Sicilia grins eagerly, "I won't let you down!"
You really hope that this all works out, and that this half-finished prototype holds together for the fight. If she dies because of this decision, you'll never forgive yourself.
[X][Bits] Sync them to the Woundwort's Psycommu.
"Connection to Schnee Weiss confirmed." You inform Theo as the status updates roll in, "Beginning Elmeth OS emulation… alright, they're talking to each other. What now?"
"Now I connect to the Bits from my end," He says, "and then I'll tune their receivers to receive signals from your Psycommu instead of the Schnee Weiss's. Both MS's Psycommu will be talking to each other, although since this is a bit of an unusual setup with older Bits, it might not work."
"If it fails, at least we tried," You lean back in your seat, "So, Theo, anything I need to do from my end at this point?"
"Nope!" He informs you, "Just relax, and if nothing goes wrong then-"
The room is filled with the panicked voices of almost a hundred men and women. The chambers that seemed so grand and hopeful just hours ago were now smothered in an air of anxiety and fear. This was supposed to be a joyous day, Mineva Zabi's Inheritance Ceremony. It was to be a day to uplift the spirits of those in Axis who struggled day by day to survive. Exiled from the Earth Sphere, you all had nowhere else to go.
Now, the Federation had come, and this last bastion of safety was in danger of falling. You knew it. Everyone knew it.
"How is the situation at our HQ going?" One soldier demanded answers.
"Have we still not received an order to scramble?!" Another cried out incredulously.
"At this rate, Axis will-!" One shouted in despair.
You couldn't watch this. You couldn't watch your home crumble around you like this.
So, you stepped onto the stage, with everyone's eyes upon you. You felt self-conscious in your black dress, but someone had to do this.
"Why are you all just standing there?" You shouted out at the crowd, silencing them, "Why?!"
"Axis has now come under a Federation assault! Why? Why aren't you out fighting!" You raised a hand, urging them to action, "If this Axis were to be lost, what were our efforts from the Battle of A Baoa Qu up until today for?!"
You clenched your fist in determination, declaring, "If no one else wishes to, I will still fight them on my own!"
They cheered. Their spirits rose at your words, and so you led them onwards towards the Mobile Suit hangars. It was almost like a wave of destiny, and you were being swept along.
At the hangar, as everyone hurried to their Mobile Suits, you moved to enter your own. The massive White Dom that your father, the Admiral, had given you. The massive Psycommu backpack made it look so much bulkier than before, but you remember what Captain Enzo told you about them. You'd hoped to be able to test them before actually fighting, but…
You toss aside your cape before slipping through the hatch and sitting down.
"I'm doing something like this…" you say to no one, putting on the Psycommu headset, "but when I've already come this far… I have to do it!"
The Schnee Weiss rumbles around you as you fire up the main thrusters. Before you, the gate swings open. It's time. This is all to protect Axis. To protect your home.
"Haman Karn! Schnee Weiss! Launching!"
"-bele? Cybele!"
You blink, a voice waking you as if you had been sleeping.
Wait, where are you? You were just in your Dom, about to sortie and fight the Federation invaders who had begun to attack Axis! But now-!
No. That's not right. Your name is Cybele. Cybele Naese. You're… not sure what just happened to you. It wasn't like you were watching someone else, you were them. Just for a bit. Their memory?
"Yeah, Theo? I'm here." You glance at the Schnee Weiss, and it just looks… familiar now. It looks so worn and old, you can still remember when it was pristine and new… but that wasn't you who remembered it, was it?
"I was saying that the Bits are synchronized to the Woundwort now." Theo repeats, "You okay? You stopped responding for a few seconds there."
You shake your head, trying to center yourself. You're you, you're here. Whoever that other person was, it was just their echo. You refuse to be troubled by ghosts.
"It's nothing, Theo." You chuckle, "Axis is just haunted, is all."
"Uh, what?" He asks, and you just bring your Composite Shield Booster up in front of you, splitting the blade into beam mode.
"Axis is haunted. Let's get moving before we end up haunting this place too."
You catch a glimpse of your reflection in the center console as you maneuver the Bit Carrier to follow.
It takes a second to recognize yourself.
The Mobile Armor takes point. According to the onboard systems it's called the Ahava Azeiru. Honestly, it's a bit gaudy for your tastes, but Zeon has always been rather obsessed with style when it comes to their designs.
"How's she handling, kid?" Christina asks over comms, to which Sicilia giggles cheerfully.
"It's great!" She replies, "Big Sis, watch this!"
The Ahava spins on its axis, showcasing the numerous verniers distributed across its surface, as well as the limited AMBAC capabilities of the tail and shield arms.
"I see. Okay Sicilia, keep an eye on your propellant, I bet the fuel consumption on that thing hasn't been optimized yet." You smile at her excitement. You suppose getting to fly such a huge Mobile Armor might be fun. If it's still intact after all this, maybe you can take it for a spin.
There's a sharp spike. Pressure and killing intent, from directly above.
"Big Sis!" The Ahava goes into full reverse and thrusts itself upwards, carrying its massive bulk directly above your team. Just in time too. A massive Mega Particle Beam screams downwards, splashing against the Ahava's I-Field and dispersing. You had your own I-Field, but Eris and Theo would have certainly bit it.
Oh yeah, and Mort too.
"Enemy detected directly above!" Christina calls out as both your teams take up position close to Sicilia's flanks, "I see it, the enemy Mobile Armor! There's at least six escorting Mobile Suits! I can't make out their models yet!"
"Big Sis, someone is chasing them towards us!" Sicilia adds. You have no idea how she can tell that, but maybe it's a Newtype thing.
"Whoever they are, they're not in weapons range yet, and neither is that Mobile Armor." Christina curses under her breath, "Cybele, what's the range on those Bits?"
What's the range on them? How does Christina expect you to know that when this is the first time-!
You know exactly how far you can control your Bits.
"…Far enough." You reply, "Bit Carrier, deploy!"
The Bit Carrier splits open like a flower, and the eight white Bits shoot out in all directions, spiraling around you. Just like controlling Funnels, only these are a bit bigger and slower to respond.
You've had a lot of practice with these Bits. You know exactly how they move.
"Alright Bits, let's do this." You mutter, envisioning their flight paths, "All-Range Attack, Go!"
The Bits shoot forward, fanning out to approach from all angles. Time to see if that Mobile Armor has an I-Field. From eight different directions, beams lance out at the Birnam MA, only to bounce off entire meters away from the armor.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"So, you have one too, huh?" You mutter as you redirect the Bits, "But I bet your escorts aren't as lucky!"
The Jegan furthest out is eviscerated, exploding moments after being shot. The other Jegans begin firing wildly at your Bits, hiding behind their shields. Not that it does them much good, as you bag your second Jegan in a flickering ball of nuclear fire.
"Enemy force has entered weapons range!" Christina levels her Beam Rifle at the approaching Mobile Armor, "All units, open fire!"
Alex Team fires every beam weapon at their disposal, as does Cascadia team. You keep concentrating on your Bits, making them go evasive as the Jegans attempt to intercept them. The indiscriminate fire catches another Jegan, heavily damaging them. The MA is predictably unphased by the barrage, however.
That's when the Mobile Armor accelerates, snapping out two Hyper Beam Sabers and blowing the hatches on its weapon containers. The remaining three Jegans follow close behind.
"It's going for close combat!" You command the Bits to orbit the combat area, pointing inwards. If this devolves to a brawl, you won't be able to use them much, but best to have them handy. Without delay, you deploy both Heat Blades. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Eris, Theo, and Mort whip out their Beam Sabers. Christina draws her Beam Naginata, and the Jegan team prepares for close quarters. Even Sicilia makes the Ahava draw two Beam Sabers with its small sub-arms.
"That's right…" You smirk as they draw closer, both your side and theirs holding fire until-
"Physical Munitions!" You shout, "Now!"
Mort and the Jegan team fire off a veritable swarm of missiles from their transplanted Zssa racks, while Christina, Eris, and Theo fire their Clay Bazookas until they're out of rockets. The Birnam MS fire a few missiles, but that Mobile Armor practically unloads every missile it has in both racks! You try to intercept those heading for Sicilia with your Head Vulcans and Long Blade Rifles, but there are just too many. Fire engulfs both your side and theirs.
You hear Sicilia screaming, Eris cursing, and Theo shouting for her. Mort reports in a panic that he's been hit. Alex Team is rapidly talking back and forth as they attempt to get their bearings through the explosions. Through the smoke you see the flashes of Beam Swords.
The Woundwort bursts out of a dense cloud of smoke, and you stabilize it. Where is everyone? That Birnam MA is speeding away, having finished its attack run. It's trailing flames though, and you see it discard the front section of those weapon containers. No more missiles, hopefully. You can't see any of its escorting Jegans, however. Were they shot down?
Eris is the next to emerge from the smoke, and you note that the tip of her right Wing Binder has been cut off. Theo is right behind her, without a scratch on him. Mort is next in an uncontrolled spin, his GM III's right leg missing below the knee. Looks to have been blown off with a missile.
The Ahava rises from the smoke like a whale out of the ocean, missing its entire left shield arm and with chunks missing all across the frame. It took a beating, but it's still moving.
"Cybele, my I-Field is down!" She reports in a panic, "What do I do?"
You're about to answer when you feel hostility from directly below you, and you turn just in time to catch a Beam Saber between your Heat Blades. A Birnam Jegan glares at you, missing its entire left arm and right foot. This is too close for Bits, so you'll have to take it down with melee!
Forcing the Jegan back, you kick it in the chest to push it away, then rush forward and catch its Beam Saber with one Heat Blade while spearing the cockpit with the other!
"Weapons free, just don't overcharge that main cannon!" You answer Little Sis before turning to help Mort fend off the second Jegan. Meanwhile, Alex Team is dismantling the third in CQC, although you can't help but notice that one of their own Jegans is dead in the water.
"Understood!" Sicilia urges the Ahava forwards towards the enemy MA, "Funnels!"
The tail splits apart, revealing itself to be a series of interconnected Funnels which all fly towards the Birnam MA. It fires both its Mega Particle Cannons, destroying some, but small explosions can be seen as the Funnels impact it. One of those beams hits the Ahava, shearing off one of its shoulder Beam Cannons.
"Stay back!" Sicilia brings the remaining one to bear and fires, coring the MA's right weapon container. It explodes, making it veer off course. Its I-Field is down too!
Your team finishes off the last Jegan and turn to assist Sicilia. That Birnam guy is circling back around, with noticeably less weapons than before!
"His I-Field is down!" Sicilia tells your team and Christina's. That's great, then you've got him!
But… why isn't he retreating?
Then a little pod ejects from his remaining weapon container, heading in a different direction away from you.
"What's that?" Eris asks as she trains her sensors towards it, "It just left weapons range!"
The answer comes quickly, as it begins… strobing. Large sweeping curtains of light swing across the battlefield, and… no, are those beams?
Sicilia's shriek sharpens your focus. The Ahava is reeling from a hit, one of the beam curtains having hit her.
"It's some kind of scattering-beam!" Christina curses as her incapacitated teammate ejects from their Jegan before the whole thing blows when the beam curtain passes over it, "Cybele, hit it with your Bits!"
"On it!" You envision the Bits again, drawing them a flight path in your mind. You see them dart towards the Birnam Beam Pod, but en route you see one, two, three flashes of light. You're down to five, with three getting hit by those beam curtains! Then the Bits finally enter range.
"Fire!" You mentally pull the trigger, and the five Bits shoot the Beam Pod, causing an explosion which takes out one more Bit. Down to four.
"Incoming!" Christina fires her Beam Rifle at the Birnam MA as it charges your group, your own team joining in. The hail of beam fire tears off its left arm, and destroys the upper Mega Particle Cannon. The lower one fires, hitting your I-Field and making your whole MS shake.
The remaining Weapon Container ejects the bit that held the Beam Pod, before snapping open into some sort of claw! It launches it at blinding speeds, and the thing heads straight for Christina. She nimbly dodges, only for the Claw to reacquire one of her teammates. It smashes into them, and you hear the Pilot scream as it latches onto her, squeezing the Jegan's arms tight to its side as the entire frame warps from the pressure. That's another friendly down!
"Get away from them!" Sicilia screams, firing up her main thrusters and charging the MA with both Beam Sabers drawn. The Birnam MA blocks one thrust with its remaining Beam Saber, but is unable to stop the Ahava from driving the second deep into its engine block.
Then the front of it snaps open, ejecting the Gundam from earlier. Sicilia puts the Ahava into full reverse to distance herself from the exploding MA, but the Gundam grabs on and draws its Beam Saber. It raises it, ready to spear the cockpit.
Oh no they don't!
You fire both Composite Shield Boosters, not even bothering to change them into Claw Mode but instead turning on the Heat Blades. They see it coming and quickly switch to defend. The first Heat Blade is deflected, but the second tears into their left shoulder and cleaves off the arm. The impact sends them spinning away from the Ahava, but they quickly reorient and toss their Saber to draw their Rifle. They begin to raise it-
A blue blur slams down onto the Gundam, crushing its head and sending it careening away.
"Sorry, I'm a bit late." Amuro says as he steadies his Doven Wolf, "This guy left behind some of his friends. We had to deal with them first."
The Birnam Gundam once again brings its spin to a halt. It starts moving erratically, probably an attempt at evasion while they switch to the Sub-camera.
Two red fighter craft shoot by you, heading towards the enemy Gundam before combining to form the Rebawoo just before it reaches it. With a single swing, Artesia splits the Gundam's rifle in half.
"Learn when to give up." She said firmly, "This is Artesia Som Deikun of the Republic of Zeon. We will be taking you and any surviving colleagues of yours into custody."
There's some silence from the Gundam, before you finally hear the pilot laugh. It's not a kind laugh, an amused laugh, but no, a deranged laugh. You're getting chills from this guy, and it's not just the Pressure you've been sensing, but… they're just not right in the head!
It reminds you of some of the children who came out of the Flanagan Institute.
"I'm sure you'd love to have me as a guest," He chuckles, "but that day won't be today."
You can almost hear Amuro frown as he says, "What makes you think you're in a position to refuse?"
Why would he say something like that? It's almost as if… no, you're feeling something. A growing sense of danger. You turn to look in that direction and see one of Birnam's Columbus-class ships in the distance, barely visible. One of its hangars is open.
What's going on there? They can't seriously be threatening you with a freighter? But… something isn't right. You need to find out what. But how can you do that without getting close? This is too far for your cameras!
Of course, as a Newtype with a working Psycommu and Bits, you have options.
"… Bits." You close your eyes and try to sense through them as you send them towards the Columbus. You're still new to Bits and Funnels, but it's almost second nature.
The Columbus appears in your mind's eye from four different angles as each Bit tries to close in. One Bit is destroyed by fire from escorting Jegans, too far to get a good look. The second gets a bit closer, enough to see that this Columbus has heavy AA coverage, before it too is taken down by escorts. The third shoots one of the escorts to clear a path for the fourth, but is itself destroyed.
The fourth enters weapons range and you fire it off once, glancing the ship as you see into the first open hangar. A massive Hyper Mega Particle Cannon rigged up inside, facing forwards. It's already charged, but hasn't begun the firing sequence.
Then that Bit is destroyed in a hail of anti-aircraft fire.
"…Not good." You grip the controls at the realization. If they want, they can wipe all of you out. An attack from a Hyper Mega Particle Cannon will be more than powerful enough to destroy the lot of you, especially bunched up together like this. You won't be able to close the distance in time…
"The enemy ship has a Hyper Mega Particle Cannon," You quickly inform the others, "I think they're going to fire it if we try and take this guy."
"How astute of you." He says, and you can practically hear his smug grin, "So this is goodbye. But rest assured, we will meet again, and when we do things won't go your way."
"Wow," Eris comments to you, voice dripping with disgust, "What a sore loser."
"You had better hope we don't meet again on the battlefield." Amuro replies to the Birnam mercenary before addressing everyone else, "Ensign Cybele, I'll follow you back to your ship. Did you lose anyone?"
"I think I have to give Mort a ride," you look back at his damaged GM III, "Anyone want to help tow him?"
Theo answers by pulling up alongside you. The three of you link hands.
"I got one down, another disabled." Christina replies, her MS holding a disembodied cockpit while her teammates are towing the one trapped by the MA claw, "We should be able to make it back on our own though."
"I can still move!" Sicilia chimes in, even though the Ahava looks like it tried to reenter the atmosphere without a heat shield. It should hold together. Hopefully.
You consider the overall result of this mission as you head back to the Bellerophon. Moderate damage to Mort's GM III, one entire Jegan lost and one heavily damaged on Alex Team… and although you took down more than your equal, fighting a private military doesn't help much against the Federation.
However, the acquisition of Amuro Ray more than makes up for it. Not to mention a half-destroyed MA prototype.
And… maybe a ghost.
Bellerophon-Pilot's Quarters
Today was super stressful, but you're glad it's over. You gave the Captain your report, so now all that's left is to just relax until tomorrow, when you'll have to talk with your team about the mission. Do a post-mortem and everything. Maybe help the others repair their MS, and tune up yours.
Also, you have to figure out what to do about the Ahava Azeiru. It's still functional, technically, but will need a full refit in order to be combat ready. Rhea expressed interest in doing it, but… well, that's something to figure out later.
You can't wait to get some sleep… but your thoughts grind to a halt as you see Amuro Ray waiting by the door to your room. He raises a hand in greeting.
"Um, hi Amuro-I mean Captain Ray." You stammer, but he stops you.
"Please, Amuro is fine." He says, "I apologize for earlier. You didn't deserve to be put on the spot like that."
"Thanks…" You resist the urge to smile, "I take it that Miss Artesia told you about the whole time-difference thing?"
Amuro nods, "I'm still having a hard time believing it, but when the proof is right in front of me like this, I can't exactly deny it."
Yeah, who would believe that time travel was real? The very idea seems so absurd… but then again, you suppose a lot of absurd things have happened ever since Newtypes were discovered.
Sicilia tugs on your shirt, "Big Sis? I'm gonna go take a bath."
You let her head on into your room, only realizing a second too late that that means the door will be opened, and Amuro has a direct line of sight to the interior.
You lunge for the door, but not soon enough. Sicilia pushes it open, and Amuro glances out of the corner of his eye, then does a double-take. You slam the door shut after Sicilia went in, but far too late to prevent him from seeing the dakimura, the posters plastered onto the walls and ceiling, the little figurines, and pajama set on the dresser, all of which bear his likeness.
Oh god. He saw. He saw everything. You feel his gaze boring into the back of your head. You're almost afraid to turn around.
Slowly, you face him, and you die a little inside at the blank stare he's giving you.
"I… I admire you." You squeak, adding quickly as he raises an eyebrow, "-as a Pilot! Yeah, I think you're a great Pilot! Amazing! I'm just very enthusiastic about your skills, Captain!"
His dead silence makes you shrink in on yourself. No, not like this!
"…So where did you buy all of that?" He asks in deadpan.
"The… The gift shop?" You offer sheepishly, and you see his eye twitch.
"….I see." He replies simply before turning around and walking away. This can't get any worse.
"Big Sis!" Sicilia opens the door, her chirping voice filling the corridor, "Should I use the Amuro bubble bath or the normal one?"
He freezes near the end of the hallway. Oh god he heard that.
"The… The normal one…" You weakly tell her.
"Right!" She smiles, "The special Amuro one is for Big Sis!"
She shuts the door, sealing your fate. You slowly look back to Amuro, who has turned back around. If you could die from sheer embarrassment, you'd be pushing daisies already.
He doesn't say anything, and just leaves.
You don't really believe in God, but you find yourself praying to be struck down. If anyone hears your prayers, they don't grant you any mercy. You have to live with this shame.
There are a few days before the Bellerophon returns to Londenion, accompanied by the Zeon task force. How should you spend this downtime?
[][Interlude] Focus on going over the mission with your team, to figure out what you did wrong, what you did right, and how you can improve.
[][Interlude] Follow Amuro around. You have to salvage his image of you!
[][Interlude] Take the opportunity to talk more with Miss Artesia and other Zeon Republic personnel. Both as a curiosity and networking in case you need to seek an alternate employer later.
[][Interlude] Something is haunting the Psycommu in the Woundwort. Exorcise it.
^This option is going to be about as goofy as it sounds.
There's also the matter of what to do about the half-wrecked Ahava Azeiru. It could definitely be fixed up, seeing as the control system, reactor, and propulsion systems are still intact. It would be a pretty big project though, and you'll need to get more resources from Londo Bell to pull it off. After all is said and done, the end product will belong to them even if it's assigned to the Bellerophon. On the other hand, if you just disassemble the thing for parts, it would add to Londo Bell's stockpile of components.
Well, you have to do something with it. It's no good to anyone like this.
[][Ahava] Start drafting repair and refit plans with Rhea. You want the firepower this thing will bring to the table.
[][Ahava] Scrap it for parts. This thing is old and obsolete anyways. Something more useful can take up the Bellerophon's central hangar later.
