Winning Vote:
[X] Aboard the Eternal, after a joint meeting between the ship captains and major leaders
[X] The coming battle
August UE 0084
Aboard the Eternal, outskirts of PLANT airspace
You stretch your shoulders as you leave the meeting room, idly allowing your inertia to carry you to the far wall of the hallway in microgravity.
A noise of disorientation behind you gets your attention, and you turn around to see Lelouch, in his full Zero outfit, almost flailing about to try and grab some kind of handhold. You chuckle before holding out your arm for him to grab onto.
"Not quite used to space?" You ask.
"Unfortunately, yes. It appears my previous experience in space combat wasn't enough to prepare me for an extended stay in microgravity." Lelouch says as he joins you on the wall.
The two of you make your way toward one of the Eternal's lounges, neither of you having any pressing need to return to your respective home ships, the Ikaruga and Ra Cailum.
"Couldn't help but notice you were close to nodding off a few times during the meeting, even with your mask on." You say.
"Ah."
You can't see Lelouch's face, but from the way he tilts his head, it's clear he's embarrassed.
"Jetlag from going up into space?" You ask.
"No, it's..." Lelouch gestures to the door of the lounge you've arrived at.
The two of you enter and close the door.
"It's...actually a bit embarrassing." Lelouch admits.
You raise an eyebrow. Lelouch takes off his Zero mask before covering his eyes with his hands.
"Swear to me you won't tell another soul about this." He says.
"Relax, your secret's safe with me." You say, raising your arms in a placating gesture.
Lelouch parts his fingers over his eyes and sighs in relief.
"Shortly before me and the other Black Knights went into space, Shirley found out about what I was getting into. She insisted on a...moment of intimacy before I departed." Lelouch catches his mask and puts it his lap.
You mull over Lelouch's euphemism for a few seconds.
"Did C.C. and Kallen also get involved?" You ask.
"Yes, we had a foursome." Lelouch answers plainly.
You can't help but laugh.
"You're more like your old man than you'd like to admit!" You chuckle.
Lelouch gives a weak laugh.
"That is the only point of similarity to Charles zi Britannia I will ever admit to. On the plus side, ever since I started...bedroom activities with Kallen, C.C., and Shirley, my stamina has improved." He says.
You both share a laugh before falling silent for a few seconds.
"So...what do you think about the upcoming battle? It's going to get nasty." You say.
Lelouch gives a resigned sigh.
"In some ways, it's worse than the conflict with Britannia. With Britannia, at least on the surface, it was motivated by greed, lust for territory, and a desire to reclaim its past glory. ZAFT and Blue Cosmos are both ideologically motivated to obliterate the other on a fundamental level, down to the last man, woman, and child. There's no way we're going to be able to resolve this cleanly." He says.
"And I'm guessing it's the leadership that's the root of the problem?" You ask.
"From what I've been told? Absolutely. Both Patrick Zala and Murata Azrael are too deep-seated in their beliefs to back down from the other. The only way we'd be able to get them to sit down at the negotiating table would be if I was able to use my Geass on both of them, and I highly doubt I'd be able to infiltrate Aprilius One or Ptolemaus Lunar Base even with it." Lelouch says.
"Ugh. Politics." You gripe. "Any chance us showing up will cause them both to back down?"
"Not a chance. Especially with that massive silhouette the Archangel saw during its final recon mission before this. If that's not some kind of superweapon Patrick Zala's been keeping in his back pocket, I'll eat my mask." Lelouch says.
"So what, we just show up and start shooting at both ZAFT and Blue Cosmos until they back down?" You say.
"Unfortunately, that seems like our only option." Lelouch admits.
You groan, hand on your face.
"None of us are going to have good memories of this looking back, are we?" You say quietly.
"Only the most unhinged would look back on whatever's about to happen fondly." Lelouch says bitterly. "Luciano Bradley, perhaps, or Ali-Al Saachez."
You both shudder.
"Well, it was nice talking to you." You say. "Get some rest before something big happens!"
Lelouch merely chuckles as he gets up. You give him a friendly pat on the shoulder before leaving yourself.
Boaz, L5
An intense battle rages in the void of space as Blue Cosmos and ZAFT forces clash.
"Don't underestimate the Boaz Defense Force!" A ZAFT pilot yells pridefully as he bisects a Strike Dagger with his mobile suit's Extensional Arrestors.
As numerous Blue Cosmos ships go down in flames, several Strike Daggers, Moebius mobile armors, and Delphinium mobile armors manage to get past ZAFT's forces and make a run at Boaz itself, only to be shot to pieces by the space fortress' static defenses and numerous GINNs.
"Just try and get past Boaz, you overconfident Naturals!" Boaz's commanding officer boasts out loud.
As the battle drags on, the Dominion enters the fray and launches the Raider, Forbidden, and Calamity Gundams. Several of the Agamemnon class ships accompanying it launch more Moebius mobile armors, but instead of the standard linear cannon, these Moebius units are all holding a large missile in their belly clamps.
The Druggie trio immediately gets to work sowing chaos among the ZAFT ranks before taking point defending the Blue Cosmos Peacemaker force, smashing apart any ZAFT mobile suit that gets in their way and destroying Boaz's static defenses.
"N-Jammer Canceller okay! Safety device released, activating trigger!" A Blue Cosmos Moebius pilot announces.
"Okay, say your prayers, space monsters!" Another Moebius pilot says.
"For the preservation of our Blue and Pure world!" A third Moebius pilot yells.
The Peacemaker force releases their payload: dozens of nuclear missiles, each equipped with an individual N-Jammer Canceller.
The effect on impact is obvious and devastating. The nuclear missiles detonate, the ensuing flash overshadowing everything else on the battlefield for an instant before fading, Boaz left as nothing but an enormous hulk of rapidly breaking up rubble.
Aboard the Dominion, Murata Azrael chuckles as what's left of ZAFT's forces in the area retreat.
"Ah, finally, a good result!" He sighs enthusiastically. "It seems that even the mighty Boaz space fortress is no match for nuclear weapons."
"Director Azrael, I know they're the enemy, but don't you feel the slightest bit of remorse for using nuclear weapons on them?" Natarle Badriguel asks.
"I never expected to hear that from a soldier. I'd like to think I'm kinder than someone who'd send their subordinates out to die pointlessly in a battle that otherwise couldn't be won." Azrael says. "Replenishment might take a bit longer than I'd like, so let's enjoy this brief lull, hm? We're targeting their mainland next."
Flay Allster turns back to her console, tears streaking down her face. Only after Azrael and the other bridge crew leave does she allow herself to cry. Natarle drifts over to Flay and wordlessly puts an arm around her shoulder as she leads her off the bridge.
The conflict between ZAFT and Blue Cosmos has entered the point of no return; one way or another, the Bloody Valentine War is going to end with the next series of battles.
Due to unexpectedly high ship losses during the operation against Barge, the EFF and Zeon will not be able to provide as many ships for the coming intervention, but they will still be able to provide mobile suits.
Projected Enemy Forces
ZAFT
Nazca-class destroyer x120
Laurasia-class frigate x180
GINN x800
CGUE x400
GuAIZ x330
Duel Gundam
Blue Cosmos
Dominion
Agamemnon-class carrier x30
Magellan-class battleship x45
Nelson-class battleship x80
Drake-class escort x140
Strike Dagger x1200
Moebius mobile armor x875
Delphinium mobile armor x600
Peacemaker Moebius x360
Aestivalis 0G (stripped down variant) x120
Raider Gundam
Calamity Gundam
Forbidden Gundam
Solar Vanguard forces
Archangel
Eternal
Kusanagi
Ikaruga
Peacemillion
Ra Cailum
Ptolemios II
Nadesico
Clop-class cruiser Budapest
Freedom Gundam (METEOR)
Justice Gundam (METEOR)
Aile Strike Gundam
Strike Rouge IWSP
Rose Unzebrechlich
Shinkiro
Guren S.E.I.T.E.N.
Lancelot Albion
Lancelot Frontier
Hi-Nu Gundam
Zeta Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Unicorn Gundam
Support ReZEL
Strike Zeta
00 Raiser
Gundam Cherudim
Gundam Arios
Gundam Seravee
GN Archer
Victory Gundam
Nadesico's Aestivalis team
M1 Astray x80
Akatsuki (Space refit) x100
Assorted but less numerous EFF ships
Assorted but less numerous Zeon ships
Jegan x150
Stark Jegan x40
Nemo x70
Geara Zulu x110
Leo x300
Who do you lean on for more ships?
Additional reinforcements are limited by Logistics Points, similar to the Battle of Orb, only this time, no option may be picked more than once. Also, keep in mind that both ZAFT and Blue Cosmos will feed more of their own forces into the coming battles intermittently. You will have a chance to do the same, but only once after a pivotal moment.
You have 120 Logistics Points to spend. Any unspent Logistics Points will result in slightly higher quality of reinforcements at the halfway point.
[ ] Katharon (10 LP)
-Clop-class cruiser x20
-Dogosse Giar-class battleship x12
-Irish-class battleship x8
-GN-X x60
-GN-XIII x30
-Flag x50
-Enact x50
[ ] Britannia (20 LP)
-Avalon-class battleship x40
-Caerleon-class battleship x60
-Logres-class battleship x20
-Sutherland (space refit) x100
-Gloucester (space refit) x75
-Vincent Ward (space refit) x55
-Gareth (space refit) x50
[ ] The Human Reform League (5 LP)
-Laohu-class carrier x40
-Space Tieren x200
[ ] OZ (25 LP)
-Salamis kai-class cruiser x60
-Dogosse Giar-class battleships x30
-Taurus x120
-Serpent x80
[ ] N.U.N.S. (80 LP)
-Guantanamo-class stealth carrier x30
-Uraga-class escort battle carrier x40
-Northampton-class stealth frigate x50
-Stealth Space Cruiser x50
-Queadol-Magdomilla-class ship x30
-Nupetiet-Vergnitzs-class fleet command battleship x3
-Thuverl-Salan-class battleship x20
-VF-171 x200
-VF-171 EX x140
-VF-19 x120
-VF-22 x80
-Glaug x40
-Reguld x60
-Queadluun-Rhea x100
In addition, pick FIVE Super Robots from the allied character sheet to deploy.
[ ] FIVE Super Robots of choice
FOR COHERENCY, PLEASE VOTE BY PLAN
The Freedom and Justice have gained access to their METEOR packs.
They confer the following benefits:
METEOR
+3000 maximum HP
Add +4 to all attack rolls
Add +2 to all defense rolls
Gain 4 stacks of Heavy Weapon
The first time a Gundam equipped with a METEOR would be destroyed, destroy the METEOR instead
METEORs do not benefit from Phase Shift Armor
A/N: I don't think I need to stress how important this is, so choose wisely. Also, don't be deceived by the numbers your reinforcements might give you, this WILL be a bloodbath because you will be fighting EVERYONE ELSE. Please vote, discuss, and critique!
