Kira checked the weapon systems available. It looked as if he would be spoiled for choice. He selected the autocannon and dropped the crosshairs that appeared on the screen over one of the suits, noting that the head had turned to follow the suit as he did so. When he hit the trigger, tracer rounds marked the pattern of cannon rounds that tracked across the surprised suit, sending it tumbling back.
It was a surprise to Murrue that the enemy suit had survived the attack - it might have been bowled over and much of the outer armour had been battered in by the explosive shells, but it was picking itself up determinedly. Hits like that would have eviscerated the variable fighters that she had examined the battlefield salvage of, but these two were apparently made of sterner stuff.
The second suit opened fire and it's own cannon traced fire along the rear of the Gundam. Kira turned reflexively, switching to another weapon and pulled the trigger. Much to the surprise of everyone involved, the 'wings' that contained the Gundam's thrusters snapped together and out of each a blocky-barrelled weapon snapped forwards over the mobile suits shoulders. Twin beams of energy punched into the Valkyrie and despite the additional external armour, it fared no better than its predecessor Phoenix had done against against the beam cannon of GINNs. The beams ripped through the suit, violating the shielding of one of the twin plasma reactors and then blazing though the resultant explosion to tear into the wall of the factory.
"Oh no," Kira whispered, shocked by the holocaust that he had unleashed. "The shelters."
"There aren't any in that part of the factory," Murrue said after a moment's thought. It was true in a way - the shelters were deeper, closer to the outside skin of the colony cylinder so it was unlikely that they had taken any damage from the beams. But it was quite likely that the entrances would be blocked and anyone who hadn't entered the shelters would probably be dead. "But don't use those again. Try the railguns - they're designed not to overpenetrate like that."
Kira nodded jerkily and adjusted the controls, folding the beam cannon away and dropping a rail gun out of compartments under each hip. But the other Valkyrie was already backing up, rather than seeking to continue the fight. Outside the building, it ejected the outer armour, stripping down to the standard mobile suit configuration, and allowing it to shift into gerwalk mode, skimming rapidly along the outside of the factory until it had the speed to transition into fighter mode.
All over Heliopolis, other variable fighters were doing likewise.
Heliopolis itself might only have a few GINNs present, but the Zoet system was an important bottleneck so even with most of the Militias deployed elsewhere, a small reserve had been retained and as chance would have had it, a pair of heavy cruisers had been close enough to notice when Heliopolis dropped out of communication and approach to investigate. The minute that they realised that Enforcers were loose, and in greater numbers, they had made the cold-blooded but wise decision to avoid action. Both ships were accelerating towards different jump points and doing their best to punch through the powerful jamming of the Enforcer ships. Chasing them down would require a quick response and so the Enforcer ships were themselves recalling their fighters and splitting up.
Whats the status? Roy demanded, the moment that he reached the bridge of the bridge of the Pelennor Fields. The Chivvay-class cruiser was acting as flag-ship for the Alliances escort while they were on this operation, since the Alliance itself couldnt possibly have worked its way close enough without some brighter than average station puke noticing that it was larger than every heavy carrier that the Confederacy Militias had in commission combined.
In theory the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Pelennor Fields sister-ship Helms Deep was in command of the little force, as the most senior out of himself, Roy and the Pelennor Fields captain, Adam Bolitho. That was fine with Roy Juzo Okita had been one of the more experienced and almost certainly the most respected ship commander in any of the Etiyoke Militas before the creation of the Unity Government but while Okita had commanded the ships and Major Susumu Kodai had commanded the wing of Valkyries, it was Roy who was mission commander and responsible to the Brigadier for its success or failure.
Adam turned his seat towards Roy. The enemy ships are Chivvays so theres no chance we or Helms Deep can catch up, he replied. Juzos ordered the light cruisers to chase them down a pair of Musais ought to beat a Chivvay, particularly with Valkyries aboard. Major Kodais squadron picked up the rest of your team, but there were heavy losses among Captain Rimmers team. Only Captain Fallyna and three of the marines made it back with one of the suits they were looking for.
Ace didnt make it? Roy asked, his face betraying his shock.
I regret that he was severely injured trying to capture the second suit, said a cool voice from behind Roy and he turned to see Milia Fallyna walk onto the bridge. Milias green hair indicated her Coordinator heritage and unlike most of the pilots on the operation, she was from New Etiyoke. She also took the usual arrogance of an ace pilot to extremes, in Roys opinion, and her tone made it clear that the regrets that she was expressing were entirely pro forma. I understand that you faced losses yourself?
Roy nodded grimly. He, Rick Hunter and Max Sterling had managed to secure the three mobile suits that they were after, but the other half of Ricks flight had not done so well. Young Ben Dixon had been tough enough to survive being carried back to the Pelennor Fields in an inflatable emergency rescue bag carried by Ricks Gundam, but it hadnt done anything to help the injuries hed suffered when one of the suits defenders had fired a shotgun into his upper chest. It was entirely probable that hed reached sickbay too late to accomplish anything, and while Duggie Baders life was in less danger there was little chance hed walk again, never mind pilot a variable fighter.
Out of the twelve pilots and twelve marines Roy had led into Heliopolis, only four pilots and six marines had survived unscathed.
Well be heading for our rendevous with the Alliance immediately the Helms Deep recovers the last Valkyries, Adam continued. I gather that one of them had a run in with the one mobile suit that we didnt recover to be more precise two of them found it and only one of them managed to escape. The pilot seemed quite impressed I hope the ones that we picked up compare to that one or we might be in a mess of trouble.
Theyre very impressive indeed, Milia smirked. I look forward to showing whoever got hold of that one, exactly how capable its sister is in the hands of a real pilot.
The two men refrained, barely, from rolling their eyes at her bloodthirsty enthusiasm. Youll likely have to wait for the opportunity, Roy said firmly. Were going to be leaving it behind. Itll be stuck at Heliopolis for a while anyway, assuming that Susumu did his usual thorough job in the port.
Oh yes, Adam nodded. Theres nothing left there that can carry the suit away, so itll be stuck at Heliopolis until another ship arrives.
What happens now? asked Mirialla quietly.
She was kneeling next to a park bench in one of the less damaged parts of the parklands around the Morgenroete factories. On the bench, Murrue was examining the bandage that the girl had applied to her upper arm. Not far away, Sai and Tolle were examining the Gundam with the excitement of boys and enginneers enthralled by a new mechanical toy but not yet emotionallyt aware that its function was neither more nor less than wanton destruction.
I suppose that thats up to the Militias, Kira replied. He sat with his back against the side of the bench, knees up against his chest and arms wrapped around them.
There isnt much of a Militia presence here, Murrue told them. There was a squad of GINNs and a small base located near the port. The last reports that reached us were that they were being overwhelmed by variable fighters.
So are you the only member of the Militia left? the girl asked.
I dont know, Murrue said. Possibly the way that the Enforcers went through the port and the factories, I dont know what else is there that could have survived. Welll, exc- She broke off. Sorry. I shouldnt have said that. Come to it, how is it that the four of you were in the factory anyway? Arent you all a little young to be working here?
Were students of Professor Kato, Mirialla explained. He spends so much time consulting here that Morgenroete let him set up a lab here to work on his research and we were working on projects for him.
Professor Kato? Murrue repeated, impressed. Kato had been one of the consultants for Project GUNDAM and while he had struck her as a fussy little man, he was also one of the key contributors to the breakthroughs that the Project had made in mobile suit design. Ive met him, but I didnt know he brought students into the complex. She shrugged. Anyway, if I am the senior officer then I suppose Id better start getting the Project packed up. God only knows how the Enforcers got here but it cant stay here if the wars reached us.
But how will you get anything off the station? Mirialla asked. The transmission from the port said that the Enforcers had destroyed every ship in dock before they left and that thing, she waved one hand at the Gundam, is too large to fit into a lifeboat.
The womans lips twitched. Its not a thing, Miss Haw. Shes the Freedom Gundam one of the most advanced mobile suits ever constructed. As for getting her off Heliopolis oh, to blazes with it. Ill need Kiras help just to move the Freedom, so the secrecy is out anyway. The Enforcers didnt destroy everything in the factory. Theres a shipyard underneath that houses a new battleship. It was built to carry the Gundams but the crew hadnt arrived. I should be able to recruit enough people to operate it, at least as far as one of the jump points. She turned and looked down at Kira. Mr. Yamato, Im afraid that I will need your help again. Just to move the Freedom to a safe place.
Kira looked up and then froze as there was a distrubing cracking sound from the central spine of the colony and one of the structural cables connecting it to the surface of Heliopolis parted. It drifted down almost lazily towards the ground but when it struck, entire houses were obliterated.
Oh my, Murrue whispered. I think were in more trouble than I thought.
What do I need to do? Kira asked urgently.
Get back in the Freedom, Murrue ordered, standing and pulling a pocket radio out of her coveralls. We need to go back into the factory. Im going to have everyone who hasnt entered a shelter join us if the colony collapses then we could be looking at an utter disaster.
She set off running for the entrance to the factory and Kira gave the colony spine another horrified look before darting for the Freedom, shouting for his friends to follow the Milita Lieutenant.
Another cable parted before they had even reached the factory.
Project GUNDAM was the brainchild of Chairman Siegel Clyne of the Militias Command Committee. Variable fighters had died by the score in every major confrontation with the GINNs that had been the Confederacys primary mobile suit for decades, but it was clear that the fighters were nothing more than the first, crude models of a concept that had far more potential than they had first displayed. And if two were shot down for every GINN, the best estimate was that they cost less than a third as much to build.
When that bombshell hit the Committee, there had been an immediate consensus that new mobile suits would be needed to replace the GINN and to prevent catastrophe once newer and more effective variable fighters were fielded. What had not emerged was on any consensus as to what was needed. In the end, there were two principal options: firstly, the option favored by Patrick Zalas faction with their close ties to Zeonic Military Industries, was an evolutionary approach. ZMI had been trying to sell an improvement of the GINN designated as CGUE to the Militias for several years. Zala had proposed purchasing the CGUE, ordering field upgrade packages for GINNs to improve their performance as far as was practical and the commissioning of a new design of mobile suit as far advanced over the CGUE as that was over the GINN. The CGUE and the proposed High Maneuver GINN would essentially be stopgaps until the newer suit could be put into full production. It was a good plan, well thought out and would address the short term problems of the existing variable fighters while preparing for newer ones in the future.
The alternative, proposed by the moderate faction was to focus on an even greater advance in quality. Rather than spend the vast sums necessary for the CGUE and its successor, they wanted to create a small number of revolutionary mobile suits right on the bleeding edge of the available technology suits that could spearhead attacks by existing forces without letting the war expand even further in scale. It was a gamble, but the plans, once more, seemed well thought out and the numbers displayed by Morgenroete suggested that the new suits would outclass anything else ever thought of.
If there was one thing that Siegel Clyne had learnt in decades of politics, it was that it was always wise to have an alternative at hand. He also doubted, after the first battles, that Etiyoke could be brought to heel a swiftly as the moderates believed. Publically, he had endorsed the Zala Plan, a decision that would very probably give Zala the stature to successfully take the Chairmans seat in the next election. Privately, he authorised Project GUNDAM. If the CGUE or its successor were not enough to keep up, then the Gundams would be the testbeds for technology needed in follow-up generations of mobile suits.
Three full teams of Gundams had been designed, each team built in a different factory under tight security, and each team had had a battleship commissioned to act as its base. Siegels last action before handing the Committee over to his old friend had been to authorise the transfer of pilots for the Gundams and crews for their parent ships.
Now Murrue needed to crew one of those ships, and one of the Gundams, with whoever she could find. The power was out on the lift shafts and so she led her little band down an open stair along the side of the mobile suit access passage while Kira watched nervously from above. Once the stairs were clear, hed be bringing the mobile suit down the same shaft, but it was probably not safe for those on the stairs for the Freedom to descend at the same time as them.
They were a motley crew. Added to Mirialla, Tolle and Sai, Murrue had a handful of Militia techs to have escaped the vicious battles, the Recruiting Officer from Heliopolis Milita Post, three merchant spacemen, a small squad of Morgenroetes onsite paramedics and a single Enforcer officer who was under the care of the latter. How the man was alive was a matter of speculation, the fact that he was concious would have been a nine-day wonder under lesser circumstances - he seemed to have been far too close to a grenade, but his ballistic vest had slowed the shrapnel to a survivable degree.
Hed also been pretty close-lipped except to give his parole when Murrue made it clear that she couldnt possibly spare the time to offer treatment to someone who could turn on them at any moment. Well, close-lipped about any topic of substance. Apart from that, hed been personable and even charming. Even though being carried down the steps must have been agonising for him but he kept on laughing and joking, raising their spirits.
Finally, the stairs terminated at a door leading into the docks observation deck while the shaft continued down to the area of the docks used to load mobile suits and other supplies. Murrues keycard was sufficent to open the door and she ushered the others through before waving her torch in the pre-arranged signal that it was clear for Kira to descend and she saw the shadowy mass of the Freedom, backlit but its thrusters, descending towards her until the door slid shut behind her.
From the observation room it was possible to see the long, low mass of the ship. Not quite four hundred metres long, the Girty Lue was much blockier than most Confederacy ships, almost as much as the new designs used by the Enforcers. The business end at the front held four linear catapults in over-under combinations to either side of the ship, with turreted beam cannon above, below and outboard of each pair. Behind this area, the hull narrowed to fit between the bulk of the engine pods and the flying bridge reared up at a rakish angle towards the rear. Less obvious than the turrets, missile ports marked the sides of the engines, revealing that not only propulsive systems were inside. The whole thing was blue and trimmed with white and grey, a brave sight that had been intended to let the ship bolster morale in addition to the effect that it would doubtless have on the battlefields of the war.
Murrue stifled a curse as she saw the Enforcer's eyes twinkle at the sight of the Girty Lue. Well, she'd just have to make certain that he never got to report anything whatsoever that he had observed to his commanders.
"There's no time to stand around, people," she ordered. "The ship's waiting, as you can see, so you'll need to get aboard quickly. It's entirely possible that Heliopolis will collapse any moment now and if that happens while we're in the docks..." She did not need to elaborate upon the likely consequences. If the colony cylinder broke apart there would be mass depressurisation and the remains of the station would be an enormous hazard to anything trying to move through them. Even if the dock wasn't torn apart, it would only be a matter of time until something pierced it, venting the contents into vaccum.
While the rest of her 'crew' spread out through the ship Murrue made her way to flight control and took over one of the stations there, donning a headset attached to the console.
"Freedom, this is the Girty Lue," she called. "Mr. Yamato, can you hear me?"
There was a pause and then Kira's hesitant voice replied: "Uh, yes ma'am. I can hear you."
"Good. I'm opening one of the hatches at the front of the ship. You can land on the deck inside and walk along the ship into the hanger. Are you okay with doing that?"
"Yes ma'am. What should I do then?"
Murrue shook her head. "I'll meet you there once I've closed the hatch, Kira." She manipulated the controls and on her display the upper-righ hand linear catapult opened up to accept the new arrival. "Okay Kira, the door's open."
She watched through the window as the mobile suit jetted over to the hatch, hovered and then settled gently inside the lip of the catapult ramp. She couldn't even feel the vibration through the ship as the additional tonnes landed, which was either a mark of the competence of the construction of the Girty Lue or of Kira's remarkable ability to get the Freedom to do as he wished. Once the cameras inside the catapult tube made it clear that Kira was well inside, she started the hatch closing and left it to it's own devices, heading back to the hangers.
The plural term was correct, in fact. In order to service all four catapults, the hanger was split vertically, with space for five mobile suits on each level. All the spaces were empty of course - four of the Gundams intended to have their homes here had been stolen and the other bays were for the supporting squadron of GINNs or CGUEs that probably wouldn't have even been assigned until the ship actually arrived at one of the combat fronts.
Kiras handling was sure as he backed the Freedom into one of the bays and powered it down. No, not just sure. Superb. Shed only rarely seen a mobile suit piloted so deftly and never by someone who was only piloting not merely that particular model of suit but any mobile suit ever for the second time.
Who are you, Kira Yamato, she whispered. And what can you really do with the Freedom. An icy premonition trailed its hand down her spine that she would someday find out how far his talent went.
Shaking it off, she closed the dock around the suit, ensuring that it would not be shaken around when the Girty Lue maneuvered. No one in their right minds wanted a machine weighing more that seventy metric tons crashing around loose within a spaceship under power.
Kira scrambled out of the cockpit and onto the gantry that had moved to lie immediately in front of it. Piloting the Freedom again seemed to have snapped him out of his funk, although he looked about as tired as Murrue felt.
Good job! she called up to him. Come down here and Ill show you to the crew quarters. I told your friends to set up camp there and if youre feeling half as tired as I am, you could do with a few hours sleep.
If you feel twice as tired as me, Im amazed you can still walk, Kira replied, crossing to a ladder and descending it with the easy grace of youth.
Murrue was surprised that she could muster agrin at the quip. No rest for the wicked, she replied. I want to get the ship clear of Heliopolis until were sure if its safe or not. Once thats done, Ill have time to rest a while.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
It was a surprise to Murrue that the enemy suit had survived the attack - it might have been bowled over and much of the outer armour had been battered in by the explosive shells, but it was picking itself up determinedly. Hits like that would have eviscerated the variable fighters that she had examined the battlefield salvage of, but these two were apparently made of sterner stuff.
The second suit opened fire and it's own cannon traced fire along the rear of the Gundam. Kira turned reflexively, switching to another weapon and pulled the trigger. Much to the surprise of everyone involved, the 'wings' that contained the Gundam's thrusters snapped together and out of each a blocky-barrelled weapon snapped forwards over the mobile suits shoulders. Twin beams of energy punched into the Valkyrie and despite the additional external armour, it fared no better than its predecessor Phoenix had done against against the beam cannon of GINNs. The beams ripped through the suit, violating the shielding of one of the twin plasma reactors and then blazing though the resultant explosion to tear into the wall of the factory.
"Oh no," Kira whispered, shocked by the holocaust that he had unleashed. "The shelters."
"There aren't any in that part of the factory," Murrue said after a moment's thought. It was true in a way - the shelters were deeper, closer to the outside skin of the colony cylinder so it was unlikely that they had taken any damage from the beams. But it was quite likely that the entrances would be blocked and anyone who hadn't entered the shelters would probably be dead. "But don't use those again. Try the railguns - they're designed not to overpenetrate like that."
Kira nodded jerkily and adjusted the controls, folding the beam cannon away and dropping a rail gun out of compartments under each hip. But the other Valkyrie was already backing up, rather than seeking to continue the fight. Outside the building, it ejected the outer armour, stripping down to the standard mobile suit configuration, and allowing it to shift into gerwalk mode, skimming rapidly along the outside of the factory until it had the speed to transition into fighter mode.
All over Heliopolis, other variable fighters were doing likewise.
Heliopolis itself might only have a few GINNs present, but the Zoet system was an important bottleneck so even with most of the Militias deployed elsewhere, a small reserve had been retained and as chance would have had it, a pair of heavy cruisers had been close enough to notice when Heliopolis dropped out of communication and approach to investigate. The minute that they realised that Enforcers were loose, and in greater numbers, they had made the cold-blooded but wise decision to avoid action. Both ships were accelerating towards different jump points and doing their best to punch through the powerful jamming of the Enforcer ships. Chasing them down would require a quick response and so the Enforcer ships were themselves recalling their fighters and splitting up.
Whats the status? Roy demanded, the moment that he reached the bridge of the bridge of the Pelennor Fields. The Chivvay-class cruiser was acting as flag-ship for the Alliances escort while they were on this operation, since the Alliance itself couldnt possibly have worked its way close enough without some brighter than average station puke noticing that it was larger than every heavy carrier that the Confederacy Militias had in commission combined.
In theory the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the Pelennor Fields sister-ship Helms Deep was in command of the little force, as the most senior out of himself, Roy and the Pelennor Fields captain, Adam Bolitho. That was fine with Roy Juzo Okita had been one of the more experienced and almost certainly the most respected ship commander in any of the Etiyoke Militas before the creation of the Unity Government but while Okita had commanded the ships and Major Susumu Kodai had commanded the wing of Valkyries, it was Roy who was mission commander and responsible to the Brigadier for its success or failure.
Adam turned his seat towards Roy. The enemy ships are Chivvays so theres no chance we or Helms Deep can catch up, he replied. Juzos ordered the light cruisers to chase them down a pair of Musais ought to beat a Chivvay, particularly with Valkyries aboard. Major Kodais squadron picked up the rest of your team, but there were heavy losses among Captain Rimmers team. Only Captain Fallyna and three of the marines made it back with one of the suits they were looking for.
Ace didnt make it? Roy asked, his face betraying his shock.
I regret that he was severely injured trying to capture the second suit, said a cool voice from behind Roy and he turned to see Milia Fallyna walk onto the bridge. Milias green hair indicated her Coordinator heritage and unlike most of the pilots on the operation, she was from New Etiyoke. She also took the usual arrogance of an ace pilot to extremes, in Roys opinion, and her tone made it clear that the regrets that she was expressing were entirely pro forma. I understand that you faced losses yourself?
Roy nodded grimly. He, Rick Hunter and Max Sterling had managed to secure the three mobile suits that they were after, but the other half of Ricks flight had not done so well. Young Ben Dixon had been tough enough to survive being carried back to the Pelennor Fields in an inflatable emergency rescue bag carried by Ricks Gundam, but it hadnt done anything to help the injuries hed suffered when one of the suits defenders had fired a shotgun into his upper chest. It was entirely probable that hed reached sickbay too late to accomplish anything, and while Duggie Baders life was in less danger there was little chance hed walk again, never mind pilot a variable fighter.
Out of the twelve pilots and twelve marines Roy had led into Heliopolis, only four pilots and six marines had survived unscathed.
Well be heading for our rendevous with the Alliance immediately the Helms Deep recovers the last Valkyries, Adam continued. I gather that one of them had a run in with the one mobile suit that we didnt recover to be more precise two of them found it and only one of them managed to escape. The pilot seemed quite impressed I hope the ones that we picked up compare to that one or we might be in a mess of trouble.
Theyre very impressive indeed, Milia smirked. I look forward to showing whoever got hold of that one, exactly how capable its sister is in the hands of a real pilot.
The two men refrained, barely, from rolling their eyes at her bloodthirsty enthusiasm. Youll likely have to wait for the opportunity, Roy said firmly. Were going to be leaving it behind. Itll be stuck at Heliopolis for a while anyway, assuming that Susumu did his usual thorough job in the port.
Oh yes, Adam nodded. Theres nothing left there that can carry the suit away, so itll be stuck at Heliopolis until another ship arrives.
What happens now? asked Mirialla quietly.
She was kneeling next to a park bench in one of the less damaged parts of the parklands around the Morgenroete factories. On the bench, Murrue was examining the bandage that the girl had applied to her upper arm. Not far away, Sai and Tolle were examining the Gundam with the excitement of boys and enginneers enthralled by a new mechanical toy but not yet emotionallyt aware that its function was neither more nor less than wanton destruction.
I suppose that thats up to the Militias, Kira replied. He sat with his back against the side of the bench, knees up against his chest and arms wrapped around them.
There isnt much of a Militia presence here, Murrue told them. There was a squad of GINNs and a small base located near the port. The last reports that reached us were that they were being overwhelmed by variable fighters.
So are you the only member of the Militia left? the girl asked.
I dont know, Murrue said. Possibly the way that the Enforcers went through the port and the factories, I dont know what else is there that could have survived. Welll, exc- She broke off. Sorry. I shouldnt have said that. Come to it, how is it that the four of you were in the factory anyway? Arent you all a little young to be working here?
Were students of Professor Kato, Mirialla explained. He spends so much time consulting here that Morgenroete let him set up a lab here to work on his research and we were working on projects for him.
Professor Kato? Murrue repeated, impressed. Kato had been one of the consultants for Project GUNDAM and while he had struck her as a fussy little man, he was also one of the key contributors to the breakthroughs that the Project had made in mobile suit design. Ive met him, but I didnt know he brought students into the complex. She shrugged. Anyway, if I am the senior officer then I suppose Id better start getting the Project packed up. God only knows how the Enforcers got here but it cant stay here if the wars reached us.
But how will you get anything off the station? Mirialla asked. The transmission from the port said that the Enforcers had destroyed every ship in dock before they left and that thing, she waved one hand at the Gundam, is too large to fit into a lifeboat.
The womans lips twitched. Its not a thing, Miss Haw. Shes the Freedom Gundam one of the most advanced mobile suits ever constructed. As for getting her off Heliopolis oh, to blazes with it. Ill need Kiras help just to move the Freedom, so the secrecy is out anyway. The Enforcers didnt destroy everything in the factory. Theres a shipyard underneath that houses a new battleship. It was built to carry the Gundams but the crew hadnt arrived. I should be able to recruit enough people to operate it, at least as far as one of the jump points. She turned and looked down at Kira. Mr. Yamato, Im afraid that I will need your help again. Just to move the Freedom to a safe place.
Kira looked up and then froze as there was a distrubing cracking sound from the central spine of the colony and one of the structural cables connecting it to the surface of Heliopolis parted. It drifted down almost lazily towards the ground but when it struck, entire houses were obliterated.
Oh my, Murrue whispered. I think were in more trouble than I thought.
What do I need to do? Kira asked urgently.
Get back in the Freedom, Murrue ordered, standing and pulling a pocket radio out of her coveralls. We need to go back into the factory. Im going to have everyone who hasnt entered a shelter join us if the colony collapses then we could be looking at an utter disaster.
She set off running for the entrance to the factory and Kira gave the colony spine another horrified look before darting for the Freedom, shouting for his friends to follow the Milita Lieutenant.
Another cable parted before they had even reached the factory.
Project GUNDAM was the brainchild of Chairman Siegel Clyne of the Militias Command Committee. Variable fighters had died by the score in every major confrontation with the GINNs that had been the Confederacys primary mobile suit for decades, but it was clear that the fighters were nothing more than the first, crude models of a concept that had far more potential than they had first displayed. And if two were shot down for every GINN, the best estimate was that they cost less than a third as much to build.
When that bombshell hit the Committee, there had been an immediate consensus that new mobile suits would be needed to replace the GINN and to prevent catastrophe once newer and more effective variable fighters were fielded. What had not emerged was on any consensus as to what was needed. In the end, there were two principal options: firstly, the option favored by Patrick Zalas faction with their close ties to Zeonic Military Industries, was an evolutionary approach. ZMI had been trying to sell an improvement of the GINN designated as CGUE to the Militias for several years. Zala had proposed purchasing the CGUE, ordering field upgrade packages for GINNs to improve their performance as far as was practical and the commissioning of a new design of mobile suit as far advanced over the CGUE as that was over the GINN. The CGUE and the proposed High Maneuver GINN would essentially be stopgaps until the newer suit could be put into full production. It was a good plan, well thought out and would address the short term problems of the existing variable fighters while preparing for newer ones in the future.
The alternative, proposed by the moderate faction was to focus on an even greater advance in quality. Rather than spend the vast sums necessary for the CGUE and its successor, they wanted to create a small number of revolutionary mobile suits right on the bleeding edge of the available technology suits that could spearhead attacks by existing forces without letting the war expand even further in scale. It was a gamble, but the plans, once more, seemed well thought out and the numbers displayed by Morgenroete suggested that the new suits would outclass anything else ever thought of.
If there was one thing that Siegel Clyne had learnt in decades of politics, it was that it was always wise to have an alternative at hand. He also doubted, after the first battles, that Etiyoke could be brought to heel a swiftly as the moderates believed. Publically, he had endorsed the Zala Plan, a decision that would very probably give Zala the stature to successfully take the Chairmans seat in the next election. Privately, he authorised Project GUNDAM. If the CGUE or its successor were not enough to keep up, then the Gundams would be the testbeds for technology needed in follow-up generations of mobile suits.
Three full teams of Gundams had been designed, each team built in a different factory under tight security, and each team had had a battleship commissioned to act as its base. Siegels last action before handing the Committee over to his old friend had been to authorise the transfer of pilots for the Gundams and crews for their parent ships.
Now Murrue needed to crew one of those ships, and one of the Gundams, with whoever she could find. The power was out on the lift shafts and so she led her little band down an open stair along the side of the mobile suit access passage while Kira watched nervously from above. Once the stairs were clear, hed be bringing the mobile suit down the same shaft, but it was probably not safe for those on the stairs for the Freedom to descend at the same time as them.
They were a motley crew. Added to Mirialla, Tolle and Sai, Murrue had a handful of Militia techs to have escaped the vicious battles, the Recruiting Officer from Heliopolis Milita Post, three merchant spacemen, a small squad of Morgenroetes onsite paramedics and a single Enforcer officer who was under the care of the latter. How the man was alive was a matter of speculation, the fact that he was concious would have been a nine-day wonder under lesser circumstances - he seemed to have been far too close to a grenade, but his ballistic vest had slowed the shrapnel to a survivable degree.
Hed also been pretty close-lipped except to give his parole when Murrue made it clear that she couldnt possibly spare the time to offer treatment to someone who could turn on them at any moment. Well, close-lipped about any topic of substance. Apart from that, hed been personable and even charming. Even though being carried down the steps must have been agonising for him but he kept on laughing and joking, raising their spirits.
Finally, the stairs terminated at a door leading into the docks observation deck while the shaft continued down to the area of the docks used to load mobile suits and other supplies. Murrues keycard was sufficent to open the door and she ushered the others through before waving her torch in the pre-arranged signal that it was clear for Kira to descend and she saw the shadowy mass of the Freedom, backlit but its thrusters, descending towards her until the door slid shut behind her.
From the observation room it was possible to see the long, low mass of the ship. Not quite four hundred metres long, the Girty Lue was much blockier than most Confederacy ships, almost as much as the new designs used by the Enforcers. The business end at the front held four linear catapults in over-under combinations to either side of the ship, with turreted beam cannon above, below and outboard of each pair. Behind this area, the hull narrowed to fit between the bulk of the engine pods and the flying bridge reared up at a rakish angle towards the rear. Less obvious than the turrets, missile ports marked the sides of the engines, revealing that not only propulsive systems were inside. The whole thing was blue and trimmed with white and grey, a brave sight that had been intended to let the ship bolster morale in addition to the effect that it would doubtless have on the battlefields of the war.
Murrue stifled a curse as she saw the Enforcer's eyes twinkle at the sight of the Girty Lue. Well, she'd just have to make certain that he never got to report anything whatsoever that he had observed to his commanders.
"There's no time to stand around, people," she ordered. "The ship's waiting, as you can see, so you'll need to get aboard quickly. It's entirely possible that Heliopolis will collapse any moment now and if that happens while we're in the docks..." She did not need to elaborate upon the likely consequences. If the colony cylinder broke apart there would be mass depressurisation and the remains of the station would be an enormous hazard to anything trying to move through them. Even if the dock wasn't torn apart, it would only be a matter of time until something pierced it, venting the contents into vaccum.
While the rest of her 'crew' spread out through the ship Murrue made her way to flight control and took over one of the stations there, donning a headset attached to the console.
"Freedom, this is the Girty Lue," she called. "Mr. Yamato, can you hear me?"
There was a pause and then Kira's hesitant voice replied: "Uh, yes ma'am. I can hear you."
"Good. I'm opening one of the hatches at the front of the ship. You can land on the deck inside and walk along the ship into the hanger. Are you okay with doing that?"
"Yes ma'am. What should I do then?"
Murrue shook her head. "I'll meet you there once I've closed the hatch, Kira." She manipulated the controls and on her display the upper-righ hand linear catapult opened up to accept the new arrival. "Okay Kira, the door's open."
She watched through the window as the mobile suit jetted over to the hatch, hovered and then settled gently inside the lip of the catapult ramp. She couldn't even feel the vibration through the ship as the additional tonnes landed, which was either a mark of the competence of the construction of the Girty Lue or of Kira's remarkable ability to get the Freedom to do as he wished. Once the cameras inside the catapult tube made it clear that Kira was well inside, she started the hatch closing and left it to it's own devices, heading back to the hangers.
The plural term was correct, in fact. In order to service all four catapults, the hanger was split vertically, with space for five mobile suits on each level. All the spaces were empty of course - four of the Gundams intended to have their homes here had been stolen and the other bays were for the supporting squadron of GINNs or CGUEs that probably wouldn't have even been assigned until the ship actually arrived at one of the combat fronts.
Kiras handling was sure as he backed the Freedom into one of the bays and powered it down. No, not just sure. Superb. Shed only rarely seen a mobile suit piloted so deftly and never by someone who was only piloting not merely that particular model of suit but any mobile suit ever for the second time.
Who are you, Kira Yamato, she whispered. And what can you really do with the Freedom. An icy premonition trailed its hand down her spine that she would someday find out how far his talent went.
Shaking it off, she closed the dock around the suit, ensuring that it would not be shaken around when the Girty Lue maneuvered. No one in their right minds wanted a machine weighing more that seventy metric tons crashing around loose within a spaceship under power.
Kira scrambled out of the cockpit and onto the gantry that had moved to lie immediately in front of it. Piloting the Freedom again seemed to have snapped him out of his funk, although he looked about as tired as Murrue felt.
Good job! she called up to him. Come down here and Ill show you to the crew quarters. I told your friends to set up camp there and if youre feeling half as tired as I am, you could do with a few hours sleep.
If you feel twice as tired as me, Im amazed you can still walk, Kira replied, crossing to a ladder and descending it with the easy grace of youth.
Murrue was surprised that she could muster agrin at the quip. No rest for the wicked, she replied. I want to get the ship clear of Heliopolis until were sure if its safe or not. Once thats done, Ill have time to rest a while.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.