Meanwhile at the same time...
Tian Shan Mountain Range
Kazakhstan
07: 35 AM
??? POV
"Breaks over, Roach." The Captain's gruff voice took him back to reality as he accidentally fell asleep inside the suit.
It's not his fault, the suit is just so comfy and warm. A man can't help but take a little snooze in this cold weather up the snowy mountains. If not for his Captain's call, he might even sleep in the mission.
Which is bad because the little miss will surely cross him.
"Last IS patrol units just pass by, our window is up. Move in."
And so the mission commences.
---------------------------------------
Up at the side of the cliffs of the Tian Shan Mountains, two silhouettes can be seen climbing the cliff face. Their approach to the base above was hidden by the turbulent winds and snowstorm, rendering both invaders and defenders' visions obsolete in this heavy weather.
Perfect for the infiltrators.
Suddenly, an iron hand clamped on the edge of the cliff before a green visored helmet peeked over. Seeing as the area is clear, it invited its companion to climb.
Climbing up, the two silent infiltrators are now identified as two GM Cold Types. Each having a slung Beam Sniper Rifle slung on their backs while having different sidearms and option parts. The Captain unit had a Sawed Shotgun attached behind its Hard point and a Heat knife at the thigh. They're partner meanwhile has a Battle shield (Gundam Ground Type Shield) with a strapped Beam Saber and a Bullpup Machine Gun in a sling.
"Targets on the building on the North-Eastern section of the base, across the runway towards the garages." The Captain said as he pulled his Sniper rifle off his back, "I'll locate the correct garage first. Roach, find the communications tower and plant the C4. Gotta have some insurance other than the little doll."
His partner nodded as he followed his Captain at the base's fence. One single leap and careful enough to not make a sound, they're officially in.
"Good hunting, Roach." With that, they separated.
Using the snowstorm as cover, both infiltrators slowly traversed the base silently and unseen. They're GM Cold Types are naturally camouflaged by the weather. Not to mention, they're heat signatures are masked by the suit's systems.
They're literally ghosts in this weather.
It wasn't long until the one known as Roach found the communications tower. Unfortunately, it was manned.
Two soldiers, talking something in their tongue animatedly. Roach cursed his luck. He has to get this C4 to that tower. Silently, he crept towards the unsuspecting soldiers. The two are smoking, probably on a break or playing hooky from their posts. They're misfortune then as one of them found himself with a broken neck, twisted in a single move. His friend, too shocked and afraid at the sudden attack and appearance of the infiltrator, was too late to react before his head was caved in by the edge of Roach's Battle shield.
With both guards dead, Roach took time to hide the gruesome aftermath by hiding bodies beneath the tower's roots. He also planted the C4 near their vicinity, just to save the local guards from cleaning up the body if things go haywire.
Isn't he just thoughtful?
"Roach, I found the building. Get in here." Came from his comms. Giving an affirmative, he began his slow trek towards the Captain's location, using the GM's innate tracking system to track each other's vitals and locations. Wasn't soon enough for him to find the man, crouching beneath a pile of snow, hidden in plain sight for any passerby like a solid statue.
Upon seeing him, both men proceeded to enter the building through the backdoor. Upon entering the backdoor, they saw a man, their back against them, picking through the lockers. The Captain didn't even hesitate to grab the man's head from behind and gave it a sharp twist, killing him on the spot quietly.
"Be quiet now. Take care of the body." The man said before proceeding forward. Roach simply found an empty locker and stuffed the deceased man inside before following the Captain.
Deep inside the garage, they finally found their quarry; A downed US satellite.
"Damn, she's pretty banged up." Muttered the Captain, his helmet immediately taking pictures at the state of the fallen piece of aerospace engineering.
It's heavily damaged, not from the crash itself (it was made of sturdy stuff to survive atmospheric re-entry and a crash) but due to the amount of burnt holes littering across its body.
"I don't think the black box survive this." The Captain shook his head, "Roach, get up there and see if they recover anything. Let Haro do the work." He ordered to Roach.
Nodding, the man climbs on the second floor which turns out to be some kind of lab or something. Finding the nearest console that is still on, he produced a USB from his suit to plug it in.
Immediately, the computer began sifting through all important files as the digital Haro inside the USB began to hack its systems. It began to gather all important data that they needed and subsequently deleted any US data to be found.
Suddenly, the garage doors opened. Shouting soon followed and the sound of multiple IS landing at the entrance soon followed. Roach cursed his luck as he ducked for cover.
His Captain didn't have the same luxury though.
"Roach, I'm compromised." The man himself whispered through the comms, hands held up high as multiple men and IS pilots had their guns aimed at him. It's a literal wall of firearms, a firing squad all aimed at him. Even with GM's armor, he would still be shredded by the IS pilots.
Thankfully, he got back up.
"White Doll, hit it."
Explosions erupted across the base as the airfield and multiple vehicle depots were bombarded by a series of mortar and missile strikes, surprising and alarming the entire base of the attack.
The Captain's adversaries didn't fare better, thinking it was just a lone woman infiltrating the base with an unknown IS only to be corrected by fire and brimstone, leaving them stunned and disoriented from the following bombardments near their locations. The IS pilots themselves fared better than their male counterparts by simply covering their unarmored comrades, protecting them with their barriers from any incoming attacks and shrapnels from the explosions.
It was a good decision and proof of loyalty and dedication to their fellow soldiers.
Too bad these infiltrators would take advantage of that.
Roach appeared from the 2nd floor after pulling out the USB drive, finally getting what they wanted, and threw a Plasma Cracker to the floor. Upon seeing the custom-made grenade, the Captain dove behind the satellite's remains. A good decision as the Plasma Cracker is an Anti-IS tool.
You wouldn't think that the world wouldn't be able to adapt against IS? One must not underestimate human tenacity and adaptability. Since the introduction of IS, governments and various powerful groups have already been researching and developing Anti-IS weaponry.
The Plasma Cracker is just one of them.
A customized frag grenade that produces very high voltage upon explosion. High enough to kill a person in an instant and also strong enough to short-circuit an IS. It's a weapon that the Geneva Convention already has outlawed due to its effects on humans.
Not like it would matter. Countries and black market dealings for this type of weapon are too prevalent nowadays. As IS research advances, countermeasures were also developed.
Never underestimate Humanity.
Screams of pain rang out as the Plasma Cracker exploded, sending arcs of electricity in the air. Electricity jumped between bodies, paralyzing and shutting off both biological and mechanical bodies in a few crucial seconds.
Precious seconds that both men didn't waste.
"Baseplate! We're compromised, we need the Medea immediately!" The Captain roared in his comms, rushing past the disabled men and women with Roach following close behind. Upon exiting, they finally got a glimpse of the scope of the damage dealt to the base.
Multiple structures, mostly vehicle bays and defensive emplacements we're burning wrecks courtesy of the initial bombardment. The runway of the base meanwhile is covered in dirt and random debris. No aircrafts would be running those for now, that solves one problem.
"This is Baseplate, we're on route for evac at site A." A man barked out from the other side of the comms.
"Contact!" Gunfire pinged to their armor, forcing the duo to take cover, crouching to minimize the amount of area the enemy could hit them. They began firing back, the Captain's sniper barking shot after shot, dropping soldiers in quick succession. Meanwhile, Roach took point and used his Battle Shield to cover his advance as he fired back with his machine gun.
The two were like tanks, slowly advancing and taking down soldiers left and right with no pause as they tried to exit the base.
Suddenly, the comms are alive again. This time, a girl's voice came through.
"IS patrols found my nest, moving out. They have also separated incoming IS reinforcement on your position. You're on your own this time till I relocate." They said before cutting off.
"Damn. Roach, we're going off plan. Follow me!" The Captain barked out, as she ran across the base with the man in tow. They ignored the soldiers firing at them, they're guns too weak to pierce their armor except for they're visors which is easily remedied by covering them with their forearms.
"Baseplate, pursuers inbound. Proceed to Evac site B!"
Both men ran like hell was at their heels. They are not wrong though as seconds later, a squad of IS units arrived on the ruined base. Upon seeing the fleeing infiltrators, they began firing. Missiles, lasers and gunfire rained down on their position. Both men continued on their sprint, using as much power provided by their suit to outrun the incoming attacks by hair's breadth.
"Roach, tether!" Upon arriving on a hill, the Captain yelled as he turned around and brought his sniper rifle up to aim at the pursuers. His partner immediately complied and threw a tether, the same grappling tether they used to climb the cliffside, to the Captain to which the man himself clipped on his waist.
"Drive!"
In a burst of snow, Roach jumped across the slope with the Captain in tow and practically bolted off the base as his leg thrusters acted as skis, sliding down the slope with concerning speed powered with his thrusters' ignitions. Meanwhile, the captain is being dragged like demented example of an owner being dragged by their excitable pet dog.
Except this mother fucker is skiing backwards and firing at the pursuers like a boss. His Sniper Rifle barked out shots after shots, taking down two IS pilots down as his shots pierce through their IS barrier. Seeing comrades being taken down, the pursuing IS switched tactics. They took flight up in the sky and began to lay down bombardment on both men.
"Damn!" The Captain cursed, "Roach, speed up!" He ordered as he gripped the tether hard.
Acknowledging the order, Roach began speeding up to outrun the enemy bombardment. Explosions filled the snowy mountain, barely hitting the men on the run. Snow and tree fragments flew around as the mountain erupted around them. Up in the sky, the pursuing IS is still keeping up with them.
"Goddamn! Baseplate! Where the hell are you?!" The Captain roared at the comms amidst the explosions blasting around him.
"On route but I can't land with your friends in tow! Lose them first!" His comms replied, making the man curse at his luck.
"Damn it!"
Suddenly, his comms came alive again.
"Pa, target locked. Neutralizing..."
Up in the sky, the two pursuing IS pilots finally caught up to the two intruders who infiltrated and wreak havoc on their base. The two managed to guide them to nearest cliff with their gunfire. Now, they just need to trap and capture the two.
Questions would be answered.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be today as the sky erupted in numerous gunfire. Bullets, missiles and mortar fire blasted their position in the sky. Their poor shields didn't even stand a chance before being shredded to zero percentage. Fortunately, they crashed before their shields failed them.
They're lucky to be even alive after that kind of abuse.
"Hahahaha. Good work, White Doll." The Captain laughed as he just watched the sky lit up like a fireworks display.
"Going to rendezvous now."
"Meet up and five, take a safe route." He ordered, not wanting any chances.
"Copy that." The girl on the other side replied before going out.
---------------
A few minutes later...
After losing their pursuers, Roach and his Captain went into stealth mode afterwards by slowing down and using their suits' natural camouflage to blend in the snowy mountain landscape. They crept slowly through snowy terrain, hidden beneath the thick trees, canopy and snow. IS patrols have passed overhead multiple times but never detected them, they're sensors unable to locate their suits. Both men didn't dare to rush their exit, just a single disturbance in the snow will surely alert the IS patrols. Not to mention, they can't lead them to their Evac vehicle.
An hour soon passed and they were finally out of the enemy lines. They soon arrived at their EVAC site which is an open field with nothing.
Suddenly, the air shimmered and unraveled to reveal a massive Airship.
A Medea.
"Get your ass in here, Soap. Your kid's already in here." His comms came alive again.
"Damn it, Nikolai." The Captain, now known as Soap, shook his head while Roach shrugged with mirth. They soon embarked the Transport carrier, taking off soon afterwards.
"Hey, it's not my fault you both took the scenic route here." The pilot, Nikolai greeted them as they walked into the cockpit.
"It's not my fault, we're just unlucky today." Soap reasoned.
"Unlucky enough to leave an entire Russian base in ruins?" Nikolai smirked.
"Fuck you man." Nikolai laughed out loud, taking this one as a win.
Soap shook his head at the laughing Russian before taking a seat on the computers on the airship. As he uploaded the data they had taken, Roach went to the docking bay of the ship to take off his suit. On the way, he passed a teenage girl who barely reached his chest.
"Roach." She greeted, nodding at the man. Roach reciprocated the nod in return and pointed a thumb back to Soap before passing the girl.
"Pa." She greeted, approaching the man frowning at the computer.
"Laura, Good sniping back there." Soap gave her a look of approval before turning back to the computer.
Despite the compliment, the girl frowned.
"I still got found out. My opening fire left a trail for them to locate me." Laura admitted. Just a few minutes of her bombardment on the base, IS pilots were already hot on her position.
Maybe she should invest in Beam Weaponry for her Mobile Suit?
"Don't beat yourself kid. With today's technology, finding a sniper in a few seconds isn't a big feat nowadays." Soap assured her, never taking his eyes at the data slowly piling up in the computer.
His frown becomes more prominent at each file.
Until finally....
"Kid, come here." Soap waved Laura to come close. "Does this look like an IS or a Mobile Suit to you?"
"Let me see." Laura peeked over the computer and immediately her heart stopped beating, her expression turning into fear.
She recognizes the monster in the image.
"You recognize it? IS or Mobile Suit?" Soap asked gravely after seeing the girl's reaction.
"Yes. It's one of the Mobile Suits Doctor offered to me." Laura replied shakily.
"It's the Gundam Physalis, a Mobile Suit capable of firing and surviving a nuclear explosion."
"Well shit." Nikolai muttered to sum up the situation.
"I have to contact Ribbons, he has to know about this." Soap said as he began to establish contact with the man for answers.
Why is there a giant Mobile Suit floating in space?