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Rodent · 01-25-2012, 06:16 PM,

It was going to be a dark day.

Toledo Surface, 2301 Hours, Day Two of Battle.

Core forces had breached the defense perimeter of the fleet, landing many ships on Toledo's surface. Already they had secured a landing zone on a flat ice shelf near Orillion Shipwright and were in a perfect position to move to take Hoff Base. Pryde Base was already evacuating towards the evac ships at Cape Hope; the ground forces were already moving to cover Heathland Research Station.

Chillmark Research Station was located on the side of a cliff face; it had been the main base of operations for the Wedjat's Special Projects.
Anything that would work had been reactivated to defend Chillmark as the research was backed up and deleted. Standing by was the experimental hathor Destiny's Embrace.

'Chillmark, this is Heathland. We have incoming hostiles. We are setting up to self-destruct. We have completed withdrawal and are heading to Pryde to link up with our forces. Do you copy?'
'This is Aqua, we are almost complete. Just need to destroy the last prototypes.'
'Roger that, Heathland out.'

Aqua slammed the hammer down on the last small device, then twice more until it longer would be recognized.

'Aq! We got that bigass robot downstairs!'
'I'll take that one myself! Start getting the stuff to the Embrace!' she shouted.

The men continued their work. Aqua took the elevator down the old decrepit hanger that house something older than Michal Golanski's stint as the leader. She held onto the rappel and was pulled up to the cockpit. She took the control couch and started up the only remaining prototype.

'Ok Zero, prepare to self-destruct. This is your last hurrah.'
It took a moment, but it responded. 'Welcome Back Miss Aqua. I understand.-
'Looks like the you still work.' She said, talking to the Z-System.
-Of course I do. I was made to last for years. Now, I assume the Mu Protocol has been initiated in whatever form it currently is in?-
'Correct.'
-Then I request one last thing.-
'You wish to fight?'
-Someone must use my last hurrah to buy time, am I correct-
'I hate it when you know the odds.'
-I merely use logic-
'Bastard.'
-I was made by Doctor Hunter.-
'I know.'
Aqua paused. She could just put him on auto pilot, but no. He deserved more. She clicks the belts on.

-I assume you wish to use me to my full potential to buy time?-
'Why yes Zee, I do.'

The Core forces had just taken Hoff with little resistance. Overconfident, they roared across the ice plain'¦right into a minefield. Hoff was a calculated loss, stonewalling the Core and forcing them around to a narrow pass to avoid the mines. From above, missiles rained down. But they continued. Pryde fell by nightfall, the last burst of gunfire from the Order managing to take down one Core commander. Then all was quiet.

Their next destination was Heathland.

'This is Heathland; hostile forces have taken over Pryde Station and are preparing to advance upon Heathland. Anyone who can hear us, respond!'

Agent Morrow rubbed his head. He was trying to get everything ready to hold Heathland. He looked out. Four artillery batteries were set up on the roof, half of their tanks were arrayed across the front all over, no lines, all hidden. Snipers and marines with rockets were hidden everywhere. He looked back.

'Do we have anything else?' he asked.
'Negative; Cape Hope has everything else. Orillion Shipwright is defended by a complete fighter wing, and Chillmark is ready to drop into Admiralty Canyon.'

Morrow was about to shake his head sadly when the ground shook once. Then again. And again. It was a rhymed shake, and, out of the flurry of snow came the ancient mech that had come for one final fight.

'This is Agent Aqua; I will be assisting in the defense of Heathland. Destiny's Embrace has launched and slipped into Omicron 92. It has escaped with most of the research we have and will make its way to Mu when it can.'
'Wasn't that scraped by Golanski?"
'He and Leigh can stick it. This thing will have one last hurrah.'
Morrow sighed. 'Roger that.'

The Core advanced towards Heathland, never breaking stride. They encountered light guerilla warfare, losing one or two tanks ever few miles. What it lacked in numbers it made up with tactics and tenacity. So over jubilant for their capture of Hoff and Pryde they were that they were careless. By the time they made it to Heathland, they had lost ten percent of their forces to the small strikes from nowhere. The Order knew how to fight in the hell flurry of Toledo; the Core had not been forced to live and adapt in the extreme and reduced visibility.

When they finally made it to Heathland, they formed a firing line.

'Prepare to fire!'

That's when the mortars struck.

The Core front broke away quickly as the first mortars took out five tanks in the first few minutes, and then three more as they scattered. Order tanks fired from camouflaged positions around the battlefield. The Core front was disorganized for a few seconds, which was all that was needed as Aqua brought Zero around the wall and fired the main cannon. It had one shot, which impacted in the center of the enemy formation. She let the spent cannon fall, crushing it underfoot. Shoulder pods popped open to reveal a pair of Vulcan laser chain guns, which spat orange death into the enemy forces. The Core then got re-organized, and Zero began to take hits.

'Agent Morrow, commence a fallback to Cape Hope; I can hold them here for a few minutes, and give you time to lay down some traps.'
'And you?'
'I'm a Hunter; We're a bitch to kill.'
'Roger that. Good luck ma'am.'

Those few minutes seemed like hours. Her fuel was running out, her power cell was dying, and she had to rely on the engines to stay upright. The left leg was gone below the knee, one wing was hanging loosely, and half the head was gone. She had one last option.

'Zee, commence the Omega Protocol for unit Zero One.'
-Already have it ready Aqua. Proceed to exit the unit.-
'Someone has to fly you in.'
-I can do that. Arm shield is now on and covering your exit. Get out now while the snow covers your escape. I had Agent Morrow leave a small snow bike behind Heathland.-
'Thanks Zee.'
-Good luck Aqua. It was a pleasure.-

Aqua didn't bother with the rappel; she just hit the bolts, blew the hatch off, and took a Leap of Faith, landing in a deep snowdrift. While bruised and battered now, she would live without any broken bones'¦hopefully. Aqua booked it.

Zero, or Zee, reflected that he had been made and forgotten by most. Now, he would do those that he had been forsaken by a favor by giving them time to escape.

"This is for you."

The mech used its remaining fuel to smash into the heart of the enemy formation. Zee waited as he was shot up even more. But no, not yet'¦not yet.

Finally, as he was in pieces, his main body intact, his dying sensors told him he was surrounded. And most of his adversaries were in the kill zone. Zee opened up the speaker outside the mech.

-Greetings Core. I am Zero, or Zee. I am the artificial intelligence that inhabits the mech known as Gundam. Now, I will play you a tune. The tune is Taps. Please enjoy.-

As it began to play, the timer was set. Zee let them crawl all over him, looking at all of his mechanics. He had jammed their radios beforehand. As Taps began to wind down, he spoke over it.

-This unit has initiated the Omega Protocol, which states the capture of an AI is unacceptable and must be either removed from harm's way or destroyed. The latter option has been set in effect. Have a pleasant day in hell.-

Taps ended, and Zero exploded.

Cape Hope

Aqua was helped into the infirmary by a few marines when she arrived. She had heard Zee explode, and silently saluted the AI. She winced as pressure was applied to her leg.

'You have a bad sprain.'
'Doesn't matter. Did Zee buy us time?'
'Not as much as we would like.'

Aqua closed her eyes. She had done all she could. Now she needed the doc to hurry so she could get on her fighter.

Toledo Orbit

The Missing Ache was on fire. The hull was venting, and the carrier was going down. Onboard, the AI, Xion, grimaced. Not going well. Shaking her avatar's head, she checked to make sure all who were left alive were out. Most of the crew was dead; Most of the carrier's fighters, gone.

'This is Missing Ache. Hostile Landing site confirmed. They just got a new wave.'
'Not much we can do, we're barely holding Orillion Shipwright.'

Xion paused. The cruise engines lit up, and all the countermeasures were released.

'Course has been set in. AI Xion withdrawing from Missing Ache AI Data matrix. Missing Ache Out.'

The now-devoid of life carrier struck the atmosphere, it's shield dissipating and the hull boiling. The Geb became a huge flaming missile, and, as the next wave disembarked from their landing craft, the geb-class Order Capital Vessel Missing Ache impacted, sending a shockwave across the ice shelf, causing it to collapse.

'This is Cape Hope; Missing Ache is lost. Hostile ground forces are now stalled. Hold the line a little longer Fleet Command; we have four more waves of evacuation craft to go through.'

But there was no way they all could escape. Core fighters and bombers swarmed over the skies, outnumbering the Order fighter wings that were planet side. The Order fought back ferociously, downing half the enemy fighters before the last Nephthys had smashed into the ground. It was eerily silent on the ground. Then the bombs struck.

Cape Hope shook like a thing possessed, the ground exploding all over. Transports with the last bits of equipment rocketed away as fast as they could, a few Nephthys and Bastets managing to hold the line. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Order forces could not save al the transports. One out of three transports made orbit, and one out of two of those managed to make it to 100.

In the last few minutes on the ground, if an Order soldier went silent, it was because he had died with no ammunition left. Five minutes after the last transport had lifted off, Cape Hope had fallen.

//Written by Jeremy.

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