"...It's begun."
I sat up in bed and muttered the words. I could feel it—faint, but unmistakable vibrations. It was likely the bombardment from ZAFT's Mobile Suit forces. Operation Spitbreak had finally commenced.
"Alright. First order of business: escape."
The command center here was supposed to be an empty shell by now, abandoned by the brass. Still, better safe than sorry. I pulled some Slime from my Spatial Storage and had it slice through the wall, severing all the surveillance cables. Simultaneously, I had it cut the door into pieces before retracting the Slime back into storage.
I peered out through the space where the door used to be. The soldiers who had been standing guard this whole time were gone. They had probably fled Alaska alongside that Lieutenant Colonel.
Not that it mattered; if they had been here, I would have just neutralized them.
"First, let's see if I can commandeer some usable machines from the hangar."
As I moved a few minutes away from my confinement room, the tremors grew stronger. It seemed the invasion of the Alaska Base was in full swing. I probably needed to hurry.
I scanned the area, but as expected, there wasn't a soul in sight. JOSH-A was practically a ghost town.
Thinking this, I used a nearby elevator to descend toward the hangars.
As I got closer to the hangar level, I started seeing soldiers again. However, the vast majority of those remaining were likely from the Eurasian Federation—sacrificial pawns. The Atlantic Federation personnel left behind were either crews of "problematic" ships like the Archangel or those who had fallen out of favor with the upper echelon.
"Tch. No Mobile Suits after all, huh?"
I did a quick sweep of the hangar, but there were no Strike Daggers or similar MS units to be found. I suppose they wouldn't leave their prized new Mobile Suits in a place destined to be vaporized by the Cyclops System.
What was here were spare units for the forces currently deployed. Or more accurately, machines without pilots. I decided that meant there would be no problem if I helped myself to them.
They were going to be disintegrated by the Cyclops System anyway; it wasn't like I was stealing anything that would survive otherwise.
"Let's see... Large transport planes and large VTOL transports. I can't load many Mobile Suits into them, but having them won't hurt."
I moved in front of one large transport and three VTOL transports, touching each in turn and sucking them into my Spatial Storage.
A soldier in the hangar stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, watching the massive aircraft vanish, but I paid him no mind. He was likely going to die here. And in the unlikely event he survived and told someone about my ability, it would be dismissed as a joke or a hallucination caused by trauma.
"Oh, now this is a nice find."
I discovered a military "Ele-car" (Electric Car) parked nearby, likely intended for loading onto one of the VTOLs. Using this would be much more efficient than running across this massive hangar.
Driving the Ele-car, I moved through the facility, storing combat helicopters and long-range patrol aircraft into my inventory as I went.
"Ooh, found something good."
What came into view was a fighter jet that bore a striking resemblance to Mu's Skygrasper. It was a Spearhead, a two-seater VTOL fighter. The resemblance was natural, as the Skygrasper was developed based on this airframe.
Of course, I took two of them.
Driving further, I reached the vehicle depot.
Trucks loaded with anti-MS missiles. Self-propelled artillery equipped with linear cannons. The Alliance's main battle tank, the Linear Gun Tank. I collected them all indiscriminately into my storage.
As I drove the Ele-car through the hangar, looting as I went, I realized the noise outside was getting louder.
"...Me?"
No, looking around, none of the soldiers were paying attention to me. Everyone was too desperate to save their own skins. A little further ahead, I could see the exit used for launching from this hangar.
And near that exit stood a CGUE. In its hands was a heavy assault machine gun... Shit!
I instinctively tipped the Ele-car onto its side, using it as a barricade. At the same moment, the CGUE unleashed a hail of bullets, tearing apart everything in the vicinity.
The Ele-car I used as a shield luckily didn't take a direct hit, so I was unharmed. However, the surrounding machinery was decimated, and many soldiers lay on the floor, cut down by the strafing run.
"That was close."
Those were ZAFT assault rounds capable of shredding Linear Gun Tanks. If they had hit the Ele-car, its armor would have been as effective as wet paper.
Fortunately, the CGUE didn't press the attack. Instead, it led a squad of DINNs that had caught up from behind, heading deeper into the base.
"Axel!?"
Whether it was luck that I didn't miss that voice, or perhaps a reward for my daily good deeds... thinking about it, it was definitely the former.
I looked toward the source of the voice and locked eyes with Mu, who looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Mu."
"What the hell are you doing here... No, never mind that! Get in this plane! We're heading to the Archangel!"
Mu pointed to a Spearhead sitting nearby and immediately climbed into the pilot's seat. Not wanting to be left behind, I followed him and jumped into the rear seat.
Unlike the Skygrasper, the Spearhead was a two-seater. I managed to climb in without issue, and Mu immediately lowered the canopy.
But, as luck—bad luck—would have it... a GINN appeared near the exit, training its machine gun directly on our Spearhead as we tried to move.
"Mu!"
"I know!"
Mu shouted back and fired the Spearhead's missiles. The missiles slammed into the GINN. They didn't destroy it, but the impact was enough to blow it back, clearing the hangar exit.
"Let's go!"
With a roar, the Spearhead launched, shooting past the spot where the GINN had stood seconds ago and successfully escaping the hangar.
The view of Alaska from the cockpit was nothing short of hell.
ZAFT Mobile Suits—GINNs, DINNs, CGUEs—dominated the sky, some flying under their own power, others riding Guuls. On the ground, BuCUEs were overwhelming the Linear Gun Tanks. From the sea, amphibious MS like Goohns and Znos were landing in waves.
The Alliance forces were barely holding a defensive line, but they were being pushed back steadily. It was obvious that the line would collapse before long.
"There she is! The Archangel! They're still hanging in there!"
From the pilot's seat, Mu was looking down. Following his gaze, I saw the Archangel. She had taken significant damage but was still fighting fiercely.
"Mu, twelve o'clock!"
While Mu was distracted by the ship, a CGUE riding a Guul appeared directly in front of us, its gun aimed right at our nose.
"Tch! Damn it!"
The bullets didn't score a direct hit, but they grazed the underbelly of the Spearhead, causing us to trail black smoke as we flew past the CGUE.
Luckily, the CGUE seemed to find another target immediately and didn't pursue, but with smoke pouring out of us, we needed to land on the Archangel fast.
Mu realized this too and quickly tried to hail the ship.
"This is Flaga! Archangel, please respond! Repeat, Archangel, respond! ...Dammit!"
The hit from the CGUE must have damaged the comms array. Mu clicked his tongue, gave up on the radio, and nosed the Spearhead into a dive straight toward the ship.
"Axel, sorry, but you're gonna have to join me for a rough ride!"
"Can't complain in this situation. Look, there's a nice big hole in the Archangel's starboard catapult deck. Aim for that."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Listen, we don't have time, so I can't explain everything, but this base is done for."
"I know. The Cyclops, right?"
"You knew!?"
"That's why I broke out."
"Broke out? ...Well, whatever. I'm going to tell the Captain to get us the hell out of this battlefield. Sorry, but I need you to defend the Archangel."
"Fine by me, but do I have a machine?"
"Yeah. We've been ordered to stay on standby this whole time, so the Blitz hasn't been touched. At least as of this morning, it was still in the hangar."
"Got it. Then I'll launch as soon as we get back."
"Counting on you. ...Here we go!"
Micro-adjusting our trajectory, Mu dove the Spearhead toward the starboard catapult deck. Diving unhesitatingly into a rapidly approaching hole in the hull... truly a stunt worthy of the Hawk of Endymion.
"Coming through, everyone!"
Mu shouted as he slammed the jet into the breach on the deck, skidding across the floor. We were stopped by a net barrier. Made of special rubber, it caught the Spearhead—which had slowed down as much as possible but was still coming in hot—and successfully killed our momentum.
Confirming the machine had stopped, Mu popped the canopy and leaped onto the hangar floor. Ignoring the stunned mechanics around us, he sprinted toward the bridge.
"Axel, I'm leaving it to you!"
Leaving those words behind.
"Major Flaga... and Brother is here too!?"
"Yeah. More importantly, can the Blitz launch immediately?"
"Huh? Yeah. We haven't had anything to do for nearly a week. Maintenance is perfect, but... Brother, where the hell have you been..."
Ignoring Murdoch's confusion, I ran toward where the Blitz was stationed.
"Ask Mu about the details; he went to the bridge. Right now, if we don't protect this ship, nothing else matters. I'm launching the Blitz!"
"Argh, fine! Got it! But I don't know if the catapult deck works after the hits we took! You'll have to walk it out!"
Nodding at Murdoch's warning, I used the lift wire to ascend to the Blitz's cockpit.
As I booted up the machine, in the brief moments before the OS fully initialized, a communication came through from the bridge.
"Axel!"
"Murrue. Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you hear from Mu?"
"Yes, about the Cyclops. We're disengaging from this combat zone immediately. I need you to defend the Archangel until we're clear. ...And, only if possible, please assist our escort ships as well."
"...Well, the more witnesses to this battle, the better."
"Thank you. ...And welcome back, Axel."
"Yeah. We'll talk properly once we survive this. I promise I will protect you."
With that, I cut the connection.
As Murdoch said, the linear catapult was down. I walked the Mobile Suit to the edge of the deck.
"Axel Almer, Blitz, launching!"
With a shout, I leaped from the Archangel's catapult deck and into the fray.
Status Window
Name: Axel Almer
LV: 36
PP: 115
Stats:
Melee: 254
Shooting: 274
Skill: 264
Defense: 264
Evasion: 294
Accuracy: 314
SP: 446
Ace Bonus: SP Boost (Consumes SP to increase Slime performance)
Growth Type: Versatile / Special
Terrain Ratings:
Air: S
Land: S
Sea: S
Space: S
Spirit Commands:
Accelerate: 4 SP
Gain: 8 SP
Focus: 16 SP
Direct Hit: 30 SP
Zeal: 32 SP
Love: 48 SP
Skills:
EXP Up
SP Boost (SP Up Lv.9 & SP Recover & Concentration)
Telekinesis Lv.10
Attacker
Gunfight Lv.9
In-fight Lv.9
Limit Break (Willpower)
Geass (Gray)
???
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???
Shot Down Count: 278
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