Jérôme Gagnier walked through the corridors of the medical wing of one of the four Avalons participating in Operation Heaven's Fall. The sterile white of the sector reflected the medical team rushing to fulfill their duties. Stretchers with pilots injured to varying degrees floated down the hallway towards treatment rooms. The battle that many there had naively believed to be a certain victory had turned into a war of attrition with heavy casualties and losses on both sides.
The vice-captain reached the door he was looking for, and after announcing himself, he received authorization from the medical team to enter. The room, like the rest of the Avalon's medical bay, was a brilliant white. High-tech medical equipment shared space with two nurses and a bed that floated motionless. On it, Kiyoko Ogata received treatment for her injuries, which were more serious than they had imagined. The young woman was out of her uniform while the nurses, with the help of small robots, treated her severe burns.
The M.M.U. Sagittarius's attack had come within a hair's breadth of taking the young lieutenant's life. That she had only fainted, and even more impressively, regained consciousness so quickly, demonstrated a resilience the vice-captain admired. It took a while for Kiyoko to notice her superior's presence in the room, and when she did, she struggled to try to sit up, only to be stopped by the nurses.
"I-I can still fight, Vice-Captain!"
Gagnier observed the young woman impassively. He wished he could give her one of the looks of understanding and affection he had seen Gabriel Sirghi so often give the young lieutenant in recent months. Unfortunately, that was a skill he had lost years ago. However, he still cared for his subordinate.
"Even if that were true, M.M.U. Izanagi is out of commission until we return to Amaterasu base for repairs."
Kiyoko's face contorted in pain, and she hugged herself.
"Captain Vázquez sacrificed himself to save me, sir... I need to avenge him, for First Lieutenant Sirghi and Miss Theresa... I have to."
Jérôme sighed heavily. Kiyoko's feeling was as natural as it was common among all those directly or indirectly involved in the war that had already lasted over 100 years. Revenge was perhaps the main fuel for most participants in that operation, after all. He approached the lieutenant and instinctively placed his hand on the young pilot's head.
"I cannot send you to the battlefield in your condition. It's not just Izanagi; you too are too important for us to take that risk, Lieutenant."
He moved away from the young woman, who observed him confusedly, before continuing.
"And if you truly care so much for First Lieutenant Sirghi, you will not risk yourself further until you are fully recovered. He is already carrying a burden whose weight we cannot imagine; let's not make him suffer the loss of Captain Vazquez and yours at the same time."
"...Yes, sir."
Kiyoko's timid reply was the cue for the vice-captain to leave the room, and for the young woman's treatment to continue.
<>
Sabrina Ortiz was in her private cabin on her squadron's Avalon, lights off, watching videos captured during the combat between her F-808 and the Sagittarius of one of the enemy leaders.
She took a sip of her isotonic drink while on her monitor, five different sightings of the new M.M.U. Sagittarius appeared. The U.S.C. also had an ace up its sleeve. The combat had been balanced and ended in a bitter draw for the Aegis captain. That the new machines were capable of matching the power of her new M.M.U. was something she hadn't expected so soon. Her irritation was interrupted by her communicator ringing; the message was clear and quick—an extraordinary meeting had been called by the operation's command.
The Avalon's large meeting room was packed. Besides the crew, the main leaders of the operation who were on the other ships were present via video conference. General Watkins and his captains were leading the meeting, and it was the experienced man who began it. A hologram of the battlefield, representing the position of the two combat forces and Beta colony, filled the room.
"As you can all see, we've reached an impasse. Aegis's requisition for the capture of the colony, not its destruction, limits our actions. If we continue like this, the battle will become a problem."
The supply line would become too long; logistics would be the downfall of the terrestrial forces if the combat continued for much longer. Scott Bryson, a general in the US Navy, was the next to speak. Ortiz respected the man, though she often found his aggressiveness exaggerated.
"Why don't we abandon the idea of capturing the colony?"
Watkins looked around the room and noted a good number of people agreeing with Bryson's suggestion. He continued, anyway.
"Because those are the Aegis council's directives. We need the facilities intact."
"It was a mistake not to use Excalibur in this operation; we could have simply annihilated the enemy force!"
The murmur quickly turned into an uproar. The news that the colony on Mercury had been destroyed, and that soon the one on Venus would be too, had changed the minds of many members of the terrestrial forces; that absolute power should be utilized.
"Order!"
Watkins' powerful voice silenced the audience.
"Our current orders are to return to Earth. We achieved part of our objectives with the destruction of two colonies; it's not worth risking our fleet in a combat that could cost more than necessary. We will begin the withdrawal of troops immediately."
The room quickly emptied, except for Ortiz, Qiqiang, and Gagnier, who remained. The captain approached the two men.
"What is Lieutenant Ogata's condition?"
"She is not at risk, Captain."
"Good. Tell her she faced one of the U.S.C.'s aces on equal terms; she deserves credit."
Having said that, Sabrina M. Ortiz turned her attention to the other pilot in her squadron. Xu still seemed nervous from the combat, despite striving to maintain his composure.
"Your first combat in space, First Lieutenant?"
He nodded before answering.
"Yes, ma'am. It was as terrifying as they always told me it would be."
The captain smiled faintly.
"And it never stops being so, First Lieutenant. You heard our orders; let's take advantage of the trip back and rest. I know how exhausting this combat has been."
Gagnier and Qiqiang left the meeting room, but Ortiz remained there, observing the combat map that would end in the withdrawal of Aegis forces. Her thoughts, however, were on the other member of her team. They had all taken lives, but nothing compared to what Gabriel Sirghi was about to do with just two shots.
<>
In the pilot lounge of The Cathedral's cruiser Aldebaran, Laila, Elijah, and August sat in morbid silence. The death of Joshua Balogun a few hours earlier was still sinking in; their academy companion of years had lost his life without them being able to do anything to prevent it.
Laila Rubio looked at her communicator, as she had been doing incessantly for the past few minutes. There were rumors of Gamma colony's destruction, and her concern was justified; a good part of her relatives lived there. The silence from their superiors and the enemy's lack of action did not help the already heavy atmosphere. When the room door opened, the three pilots stood up at the same time.
Helena observed her subordinates, tired and dejected, and felt a pang in her heart, for she was about to give them even more reasons for such feelings.
"Captain, is it true what's circulating about Gamma colony!?"
Laila asked, in a pleading tone. Helena looked at her without flinching and replied.
"Yes, it's true. Gamma colony, its auxiliary colonies, and stations have been destroyed."
Laila Rubio fell to her knees but held back her tears. Elijah knelt beside her, and the punch August Leitz threw at the room wall echoed.
"How is this possible!?"
"We don't know yet, but all indications point to the action of the Aegis's new M.M.U. technology. All we can do now is speculate, unfortunately."
They had failed to capture one of the machines and paid a high price with Balogun's life, and the failures were piling up. Helena continued; she had more to say.
"Our enemies are retreating; we can consider the battle over."
"We're not going to pursue them!?"
Elijah Thompson's indignation was cut short by a simple raise of Helena's hand.
"The only reason we didn't lose this battle, Lieutenant, was our enemies' desire not to destroy Beta colony. Following them is a risk we cannot take.
I know how tired you are; I share the same feelings. We will not let Joshua Balogun's death be in vain. But now I ask you to rest; we will proceed immediately to Alpha colony."
The "yes, ma'am" was said simultaneously by the U.S.C. pilots, who quickly headed to their quarters. Helena took a few steps, still in the room. From the window, she could see the large colony, the second largest among the U.S.C.'s main ones—what they should have been protecting, but which, in the end, was cowardly used as a shield by their forces.
Her late husband, Alexis, believed that a shift in the balance of power could happen, and now she was witnessing this change with her own eyes. What she truly feared was not for the future of the U.S.C. and The Cathedral; Helena Kjestein feared for the future of her beloved children. Against the enemy's apparent power of absolute destruction, what could the mother, not the decorated pilot, do?
<>
At the Zeta colony's spaceport, a large crowd of people was being held back by its security forces. At the access points to the starship docks, hundreds of colony inhabitants desperately tried to access their ships, seeking a way to abandon the colony as quickly as possible. One of the colony's military police officers struggled to contain the population, justifying himself.
"We've received orders that no ship is allowed to depart from the colony; our Cathedral forces are already dealing with the enemies!"
Neal Baxter was accompanied by his wife and children, and another group of friends from other families, as he tried in vain to advance to the dock where his family's ship was. The message broadcast minutes earlier announced the colony's destruction; the video of Gamma colony being destroyed terrified the population, who desperately sought a way to abandon it. He refused to let his family die due to the incompetence and arrogance of rulers. Who could guarantee they would find the enemies before they destroyed the colony?
When most seemed to give up on the escape attempt, Neil remembered a passage he and his colleagues from colony maintenance used in their work. He held his eldest son's hand, placed his youngest daughter on his lap, and asked his wife to follow him. It didn't take long, and they were near the small ship he had managed to buy at such great cost.
Neil knew war well enough to know when a real threat was near. To his surprise, even though noticed, they were not stopped by the police forces, and then, several people, including some of the men in police service, began to board the civilian ships preparing to depart.
The ships took off without interruption. If it all turned out to be a false threat, or if The Cathedral's forces managed to stop the threat, he would deal with the consequences, but his gut feeling told him he needed to abandon the colony as quickly as possible.
<>
Hundreds of kilometers from the colony, Gabriel, Arthur, and Excalibur were once again ready to deal death. The blue glows of the M.M.U. and the Avalon space cruiser were once again synchronized. The lack of response regarding evacuation from the colony made the waiting silence desperate; there was no more time, the shot had to be executed.
The Avalon's camouflage had eluded The Cathedral's forces, which had already returned to the colony after their failed search. As he was about to fire, a small blip on the Avalon's radar, followed by several more, indicated that some ships had left the colony. Unlike Mercury, some lives would be spared. It was not enough solace for Gabriel, who, with nothing more to wait for, pulled the trigger of the Excalibur cannon again. The beautiful and deadly light of the laser tearing through space did not take long to hit its gigantic target. As with Gamma colony, a few seconds later, the structure that housed two million lives exploded.
The Avalon's protective shield prevented the impact wave from hitting the deactivated Arthur. Gabriel was again silent; in the fifteen days of travel from Mercury to Venus, he had said few words. Henry sadly observed the image from his friend's cockpit. What they had asked that good and honest man to do was unforgivable. The silence on the Avalon's command bridge indicated that the ship's pilot's feelings were shared even by Major Pellegrini, who was responsible for the operation.
When the experienced commander was about to signal the end of the operation, his attention was called by one of those responsible for communications on the ship.
"Sir, we are receiving a signal."
Pellegrini just nodded, and the connection was established.
"We surrender! We are just civilians, please have mercy, we have children and women on the ships, I beg you!"
The exchange of glances in the cabin was long, and then, using their advanced cameras, the five surviving ships from Zeta colony appeared on the Avalon's monitors.
"My name is Major Gianluca Pellegrini, of the terrestrial defense forces, Aegis. You have two options: you can continue your journey towards other U.S.C. colonies and posts, or come with us to Earth."
The entire crew's attention was now on the major, who continued.
"If you opt for asylum on Earth, I promise you that you will be treated with all your rights."
The delay in response was acceptable; after all, the one making the promise of safety was the enemy who had just destroyed an entire colony.
"If you choose to travel to the U.S.C., we would like to provide you with supplies; it will be a long journey."
The answer didn't take long, and Neil Baxter's trembling voice gave it.
"...We will go with you to Earth. ...Please, we have injured on the ship, help us..."
Immediately, the Avalon approached the small group of ships, and in a few minutes, the crew members who had managed to escape Gamma colony were being treated by the Avalon's medical force. They were too frightened to show hatred towards those who had destroyed their home. They just accepted the help amidst tears of pain and relief.
Henry was one of the few on the command bridge when he received a direct message on his communicator.
"...How many survivors?"
He looked at the monitor with the image of Arthur's cockpit; Gabriel was still in the same position since the end of the operation. Henry lowered his head; he knew the answer, regardless of the number, would be insufficient for his friend.
"48."
They had known each other for almost 10 years, lived together at the academy, and outside it as soldiers, teammates, and friends. That was the first time Henry had heard Gabriel Sirghi cry—a painful cry from someone who was broken forever. The pilot brought his hand to his face upon realizing he too was shedding tears.
February 15, 2239 A.D. The first space battle between Aegis and Cathedral forces ended in a stalemate. However, the destruction of two U.S.C. space colonies, something that had never happened before, would serve as the basis for the subsequent atrocities of the war, which would come from both sides.