28-Nov-2000
I'm baaack....didja miss me? (listens to the silence) Well, here I am anyway, ready to inflict the latest installment of my GW/Xenogears crossover on ya! I'm going to freely confess that I'm not really happy with this chapter. . .I rewrote it several times and it *still* feels clunky. However, I'm gonna pitch it to you guys anyway and move on--maybe I'll come back and rewrite it later. As always, kudos to my ever-patient, ever-persistent beta-reader Windlily (who I swear has psychic powers)!
On to the fic!
Title: The Longest Dream, Part 11
Author: By Hope of Dawn
C&C appreciated!
Archive: GW Addiction at http://www.gwaddiction.com
Legal stuff: None of these characters are mine. Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise, and Sotsu Agency, among others--Xenogears belongs to Squaresoft. For time-wasting purposes only and not for profit, so don't sue, 'kay?
Writer's Notes: Okay, same caveat emptor applies for the next few parts--I tried to get the military details right, but there may be mistakes. (My 'research' consisted mostly of watching 'Top Gun' and 'Macross Plus' waaay too many times.) Let me know if you spot 'em, and I'll fix 'em! Warnings: More profanity to come--sorry, but people swear more under stress. Shonen-ai, minor angst, and AU. OOC-ness is entirely up to you to decide.
General Edmund Nicklay--former Solarian officer, Deus survivor, and self-appointed Kaiser of Neo-Kislev--watched with satisfaction as Nisan crumbled under the his carefully-planned onslaught. He allowed a small smile to ghost over his face as his command crew swirled around the bridge in their precise military patterns, performing their duties with the brisk competency of seasoned soldiers. Only the merest flash of approval, it produced the desired effect and reassured his command crew without encouraging rash overconfidence.
"Delta and Epsilon divisions have secured the outer civilian area on the western side of the city. They've encountered nominal resistance; only enemy casualties reported. . ."
"Gamma division reports some resistance from Nisan defense troops in its approach to the church. Minor small arms fire and scattered artillery shelling. Ground troops are moving in to search out the defenders. . ."
Nicklay tucked a stray strand of close-cropped, graying blond hair back beneath his uniform cap and surveyed the troop movements impassively. He tapped in command codes with a white-gloved hand, summoning the latest intel even as a constant stream of dispatches and orders were filtered through the bridge.
"The Phoenix reports no activity from the eastern approach--all airships and support craft standing by. . ."
"Alpha Gear division, this is the flagship Retribution. Proceed to coordinates six-oh-four-niner and secure the outer entrance of the royal mausoleum. . ."
The general resisted the urge to drum his fingers in impatience. The invasion was going well. Nisan's scattered defenses had been no match for his well-equipped tactical assault, and so far his intel about Xenogears and its pilot seemed to be accurate. If Xenogears *had* been in the area, Nicklay was certain his carefully-planned invasion would have been battered and broken into pieces by now--all due to that damned God Gear.
"Backup Gear divisions Theta and Omicron are standing by on deck. Tenth infantry battalion deployed to the southwest marketplace reports area secured."
It was too bad, really, that Xenogears' pilot was so fixated on his protection of Nisan. Fei Fong Wong was certainly a force to be reckoned with, and fought with a single-minded determination. Nicklay respected that in an enemy, even one who impeded the progress of his goals. Still--his hands couldn't help but curl in unconscious avarice as he thought of what he could have accomplished with such a powerful Gear. Then, impatient with his lack of focus, he roughly dismissed the idea. Pondering on unattainable might-have-beens was no way to win a war; a general worked with the resources at hand and an observant eye to any opportunity. *That* was the way battles were won, enemies defeated, and empires built, and one Gear, no matter how powerful, would never be able to replace a well-equipped, professional army.
"Fourteenth infantry reports sixty-two enemy casualties and an unknown number of wounded civilians, with five soldiers wounded from sniper fire. . ."
"Tell the Fourteenth to pull back, and send Blitzkrieg the authorization for an aerial strike. Then have them move back in for cleanup."
Nicklay felt the dim, glowing vision of his future crystallize further into focus as more of Nisan fell. Nisan was only a step, true--but it was an important one, a turning point on which his plans for the future revolved, and the achievement of his dream.
The vision had first been granted to him as he had crawled out of the ashes of Solaris, burnt and broken, trying to comprehend the destruction of everything he knew. A vision of Neo-Kislev, his empire turned into the preeminent technological power in the world, Solaris reborn. It would be a sanctuary created to shelter the *true* children of God, his fellow Solarian survivors, while those stupid peasant Lambs were kicked back into their rightful place as slaves.
Then his own elevation would come, the pinnacle of his dream; something that he could have never even conceived of before the the holocaust that had enveloped and reshaped the world. Because of it, he could rise to something far higher than he ever could have aspired to as a Gebler officer or first-class Solarian. A position infinitely more powerful than the pitiful Lamb title of 'Kaiser', or even the more accurate 'General'.
He would become the next Emperor--Caine's successor in truth.
He watched the battle data scroll by pensively, hands clasped behind his back. The two Aveh Gear divisions stationed here had not been much of a deterrent, even for his newly-trained Lamb pilots, and so far casualties were minimal. Nicklay approved. As distasteful as it was to command these peasant soldiers, the simple fact was that battle-worthy Gears were hard to find--and trained Gear pilots even more so.
"Alpha division has sent the all-clear, mausoleum entrance secured. Check-ins from Epsilon and Delta divisions indicate some increased resistance as they continue to proceed through the inner city. There are indications of sabotage to city infrastructure. . ."
General Nicklay frowned slightly. The success of his battle plans depended on a swift and decisive strike, and any delays in the taking of the inner city and the church increased the vulnerability of their position. Aveh was undoubtedly on its way to reinforce its faltering sister-nation, and Nicklay intended to have his takeover of Nisan and the neighboring Ft. Jasper well in hand before they arrived. If his calculations were correct, both Aveh and the rogue Xenogears would hesitate before launching an all-out destructive attack on a formerly-friendly and peaceful nation. That hesitation would give him the time he needed to consolidate his position. If they *didn't* hesitate--well, he'd always been a firm believer in having good enemies. A blasted and dead Nisan would not be able to house refugees or support Aveh.
Either way, it was a situation that could only benefit Neo-Kislev.
"General!" A new, shrill warning beep accompanied the officer's urgent shout. Almost simultaneously, perimeter warning lights began flashing scarlet on boards all over the crowded airship bridge, demanding attention as the General's focus snapped over to the frantic-looking officer.
"Perimeter surveillance indicates incoming aircraft, sir!"
His earlier satisfaction vanished, replaced by adrenalized clarity. "Distance?" Nicklay snapped coolly as he punched up the long-range data.
"Twenty miles sir, and closing fast!" the officer replied. Fear began to shake at the foundations of the rawboned Kislev soldier's calm as he confronted his commanding officer's glare.
"What do you mean, twenty miles? Our perimeter sweeps extend beyond two hundred!"
"I'm not sure, sir. We're having a hard time keeping a lock on the aircraft, and it's moving faster than anything I've seen. By the time our long-range sweeps finally managed to register its presence, it was already well within our perimeter," the officer babbled, sweating in relief as that narrowed ebon-gray stare moved away--snapping down towards the offending perimeter data. "It's a single aircraft, sir--with no sign of any backup."
". . .Xenogears. . ." The name thrummed fearfully among his officers, murmured quietly as if to prevent the demon's notice. Nicklay's face froze into an expression of cold fury at the sight of his quailing bridge crew, even as the possibility shivered down his spine.
"I want reports from all airships! Move Gear divisions Alpha, Delta, Gamma, and Epsilon into the heart of Nisan. If Xenogears wants to take us on, he'll have to destroy his own city to do it!" he barked. A startled chorus of "yes, sir!" was snapped instinctively to his back as he opened a secured communications channel. "Phoenix, this is Retribution. Deploy your shuttles in a flanking pattern in conjunction with the Blitzkrieg and Aurora, and intercept incoming aircraft. Do you copy?"
Phoenix's reply was cut off by another report. "General Nicklay--a visual coming in from the Aurora, sir!"
The image snapped up, flickering in three-dimensional relief as it rotated above the the main holo-screen. There was a slight sigh of relief from the bridge crew at the blurred and fuzzy image. While indistinct, that sleek silhouette was definitely *not* Xenogears.
General Nicklay failed to share his officers' relief as he studied the aircraft's image uneasily. It fit no design he had ever seen, groundship, airship or Gear, and even if the craft wasn't Xenogears, it was still an unknown craft and potential threat. Such variables were, by definition, dangerous.
Moments later, vague concerns crystallized into reality.
"Contact, sir! The aircraft has entered our airspace. Aurora reports. . ." the communications officer stopped, one hand pressed to his headset as his shoulders stiffened in shock. He turned back to his CO. "Sir, garbled reports from all aerial units. It appears they're under attack."
The other reports began to fly in, tumbling over each other like a row of dominoes.
"Sir, Blitzkreig reports thirty percent of its supporting aircraft disabled."
"Aurora has lost her main engines, structural damage estimated at eighty-six percent. . ."
"Pursuit by aerial Gears impossible--it's moving too fast!"
"General Nicklay!" The thin edge of panic rode hard on the edge of his Second's voice. "The aircraft is heading straight for us!"
Heero's hands moved over the old/new controls, learning the operations of this new incarnation of his Gundam even as he threw Wing higher into the desert skies. His heart thrummed as it pushed out the residue of the previous night's intoxication and stocked up on the oxygen his body knew it would need. His senses sharpened, gained a razor's edge of clarity as the first explosions reverberated through the cockpit and lit up his monitors.
Wing overtook Kislev's rear guard and punched through in seconds. The Kislev Gears never knew what hit them.
Heero smirked slightly In the darkened heart of his Gundam as he kept one eye on Xenogears' position, several miles to the rear. For all of Duo's complaints about his 'damned Japanese obsession with cleanliness', it had come in handy this time. If he hadn't taken refuge from his confusion and anger by scrubbing down the grime-laden cockpit controls yesterday, combat today would have been a rather. . .dusty business. Catching the warning flicker of movement out of the corner of one eye, he banked smoothly to one side, avoiding the incoming fire of another surprised group of support shuttles.
The monitors flickered, snapping up a continuous range of short and long-range sweeps as he keyed in the codes for the main battle-control systems. He grunted, relieved, when they responded. Thankfully the programming was still there, though deeply buried and oddly reconfigured, despite Une's insistence on 'Gundams for peace'. Most likely the Scientists didn't have time to completely eradicate all of the Gundams' battle subroutines from the operational systems. To do so would mean recreating all the system parameters from scratch; an almost impossible task given the short time-frame in which they had to work.
*Either that, or they couldn't bear de-fanging their masterpieces completely,* Heero thought cynically as he dumped speed abruptly and dropped out of supersonic. He used the lingering momentum to throw Wing under the gleaming green bulk of an aerial battleship, and raked its exposed wings and flank with pulverizing beam cannons. The Kislev titanium crumpled and disintegrated under the onslaught, and fire belched in his wake.
He was under no illusions about the the Gundam pilots' former controllers. Opposing the original Operation Meteor did not automatically make otherwise fanatical geniuses into benevolent humanitarians. However, whether these systems were intentional or otherwise, he couldn't help but be grateful for the results. If he and the others were destined to be thrown into a war-torn world not of their choosing, then at least they were well-equipped to defend themselves.
Rolling away from the smoking and crippled battleship, he banked into an inverted dive down and away from the Kislev escort ships, and without hesitation slammed *through* the wing and main cockpit of a smaller gunship foolish enough to try and block him. In another Suit, such a maneuver would have been suicidal. In a gundanium-armored, reinforced Wing it became an efficiently brutal tactic. The Gundam merely creaked as it ripped forcibly through the larger vehicle, metal screaming from the impact. Then its momentum carried it beyond the exploding mass of the shuttle, sensors compensating for the point-blank explosions as the ship fell apart behind him.
The main computer system hummed busily as it worked in tandem with the battle subsystems, providing redundant backups and reciprocal data feed. Even powered down for transport and storage, it had never really stopped functioning, and now issued a constant stream of commands to the myriad of crucial subsystems, anticipating his needs. In a way, it was those internal operations that were the most important part of his craft. Along with the gundanium armor, they transformed what would otherwise be just an advanced Mobile Suit into the superior war machine that was his oldest partner--a Gundam. His eyes flickered over the overlapping heads-up displays, watching as Wing's targeting systems offered primary, secondary, and tertiary threats.
Darting from side to side, Heero grunted under the multiple G's as he triggered Wing's transformation in midflight. He kicked in the backup thrusters as several Gears dived down, their exotic wing extensions and flaring thrusters obvious indicators of aerial combat-based designs. Several reactive energy shots bounced harmlessly off his shield as they attacked. He moved to batter one away with the blunt edge of his shield and bounced, startled, off the confines of his harness as the Gundam responded with unexpected power. Instead of shoving the Kislev Gear away as he had intended, he punched clean *through* the suit instead, the shield tearing past its armor like wet paper. He reversed his thrusters, flinging the crippled Gear away. The resulting explosion was ear-shattering, and the air turbulence bounced Wing away like a ping pong ball.
As he wrestled Wing through the turbulence, Heero noted wryly that apparently Lady Une had, if anything, underestimated his new Gundam's power. If this battle was any indication, then what Instructor H had produced to meet Lady Une's demand for a better, more flexible operating system was no less than an AI in its own right. Though it still relied on the pilot for decision-making abilities, the Gundams' most basic algorithms had definitely been rewritten in a more intuitive direction, producing an almost uncanny ability to predict and mesh with their pilots' needs in any situation. At least, that's what H had claimed so many years ago, and it appeared to be true.
Personally, Heero had always had some reservations. H had never admitted it outright, but he had the distinct impression that they had used a bit more of the old Zero system to create this new OS than they were letting on. Yet another reason why this Gundam should have been tested in the safety of deep space at L6 instead of being thrown, untried, into a pitched battle. However, even as he plunged into the midst of the fire and debris and used it as a smokescreen to baffle enemy sensors, Heero couldn't help but admire the old man's skill. This new Wing was powerful, and its reflexes were *fast*. Only J's relentless training--don't assume you know what the thing's gonna do, boy--*feel* it!--kept Heero from overcompensating on each maneuver as Wing responded to his commands with unprecedented speed.
The muted *bleep* of incoming communications interrupted his musings. Keying in the appropriate encryptions, he opened a channel even as he completed an aerial lunge with a thrust that clipped two more Kislev Gears' wings and main thrusters. He watched them plummet downward for a moment as Wing's auto-evade darted him neatly through a blast from the battleship he had crippled earlier. "Wing here."
Quatre's face peered out of a tiny sub-channel. "01. Status?"
He checked his long-range sensors, noting the energy signatures and blips of multiple aircraft just barely coming into range behind him. He was mildly impressed in spite of himself. It took skill to get a force that large moving that quickly.
"Have entered combat with the outer perimeter of Kislev aerial troops. I'm continuing inward past their rear guard, and am engaged with one of their airships and approximately fifteen smaller aerial craft. Sensor readings tell me two airships are converging on my position--no reaction from any ground units as of yet." He watched the incoming enemy data scroll by as he waited for Quatre's reply.
"Acknowledged. At its current rate of speed, Xenogears will be there in about ten minutes. Yggdrasil and the rest of the Aveh forces should be there in another fifteen, and will be coming up to one side in an attempt to flank the invading Mobile Suits from the rear. 03 is working with Dr. Uzuki to try and cross-wire their communications in order to use our frequencies; I've given them the codes for this one, so keep it open. In the meantime, the rest of the Gundams are loaded and standing by for launch."
Heero wondered idly just how much fast-talking Quatre had done before they had agreed to let the Gundams on the battlefield. Probably quite a bit, especially after he had absconded in the company of Xenogears. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he kicked in the afterburners and rocketed out the attack range of three approaching Gears, "Hai."
"Ostensibly our Gundams will be functioning as independent support units," Quatre continued, smiling thinly. "For some reason, they don't quite believe we can stay out of the way. In reality--I need you and Xenogears to punch through their air support for us. Whittle them down and draw them away from the southeast, so that the Aveh Gears can come in without being pounded from above. Got it?"
Heero nodded. "Ryoukai."
"Good. 04 out." The tiny image faded away, replaced by a video feed of Nisan as the mountains that shielded it from view fell away. Wreathed in the smoke from the burning town, delicate spires reached upward from the central cathedral, battered yet still standing. Massive green and gold Kislev airships with their smaller escort craft hovered over the small refuge nestled away in the center of a mountain lake, occasionally disgorging additional Gears or sending a deadly barrage of shipboard fire from above.
Heero leaned forward, lean fingers wrapping around the controls as his focus narrowed down to the images of the tiny, moss-covered island city. Beleaguered by both swarms of Gears and occasional cannon-fire from the warships hovering above, he visually confirmed what the battle-computers had already surmised. Nisan's defenses were almost completely destroyed. With cold clarity, he prepared to drop Wing down upon Nisan's attackers as he triggered Wing's transformation back into bird-mode and gave a last assessing glance at his diagnostics.
Then Wing dropped out of the sky like an ancient avenger; and Heero threw himself into the fray once more.
End Part Eleven
(:./hope/dream11)
