Pirate Bebop

Ch.106

“You know, weren't there legends of space dragons once helping mobile suit pilots in combat?” Spike asked as he did some maneuvers around enemies in the Swordfish II. He didn’t mind that his Taurus at most got some armor, weapons, power and operating system updates while the others all got whole new mobile suits or other refinements. He did most of his fighting as a starfighter in Full Flight mode anyway.

“Spike, not the time to chat about myths on comms.” Jet said as he twisted the Bebop around a few defense satellites that Faye’s Red Head had disabled, but not reduced to debris, with a staggeringly massive barrage of missiles. She had to return to restock right away, but seeing the Labrys Rodi’s capabilities made him glad they stole the prototype from the UnSC.

“Just saying. Uri and the other dragon gals are the size of celestial bodies.” Spike commented before he entered Suit Mode to brake, reorient, then returned to Full Flight to dodge incoming missiles at a speed and suddenness almost no single mobile suit or starfighter could achieve. It was why the Taurus was such an expensive and sought-after MS by veteran pilots.

“Bogie on the left, is that…a Hugo?” Green Leader said before screaming in terror.

“What the hell are Hexa Frame Mobile Suits doing in Triangulum?! Those are Andromeda-fuck!” Someone else shouted and Spike flew to intercept. Not good. It seemed the UnSC forked credits over to competitors for niche-filling Mobile Suits. The Hexa, unlike the Rodi, was nearly specialized for optimization in space. They were agile and could even capture targets physically instead of with chaser disabling missiles or Ion weaponry and they have Ion gear.

It was why you mostly saw Hexa Frames beyond Andromeda as only the base Gilda: a space construction and maintenance unit, but then you got combat variants like the Hugo and SAU. They came anticipating legions of Rodis, not mixed units. Oh shit, what is that?!

🎺

“The Rebels are in trouble. The UnSC have deployed unexpected countermeasures, such as Mobile Suits made by competitors and a highly lethal one-off the size of a gunship.” Kevin warned the others about the growing development.

“Unexpected, but not impossible to beat.” Bryan countered.

“Yes, but remember, the Rebels deployed to run a blockade, not to get intercepted by a giant rocket-legged mobile suit and get wiped out.” Kevin reminded him about their objectives that were now compromised.

“No, they weren’t. I’m deploying with a small strike force to deal with the problem. Things should be back on track once they make it through.” Bryan announced, only for Vinnie to huff.

“Boys, remember who’s running the interception? I got this.” Vinnie remarked before she engaged the enemy MS Interceptors, starting with the Hugos nearest to her.

“Unless you suddenly have a Mobile Suit alt, dear, I’d suggest you-.”

“We’re Cybertronian slimes. My Alts can be whatever I want them to be!” Vinnie declared and corkscrewed around a group of enemies to launch for the giant rocket-legged enemy MS.

“…Okay.” Bryan deadpanned, clearly not giving a flying fuck about his other alts.

“Really?” Vinnie sassed.

“Do I have to kick your arse just to prove a point again?” Oh no! Disengage! Disengage!

“Okay~! You do you and I’ll do me!” Vinnie quickly backtracked out of that minefield before she then Transformed into a golden Gundam. “I am so glad I scanned those Gundam specs!”

“What do you want, a medal?”

“Medals are worthless wastes of chest decoration, I just wanna kick ass and chew bubble gum, but we left the gum at home.”

“Says you, hypocrite.”

“I specifically chose this alt because it’s as fast as I can get as a mobile suit to my base ship alt. Now, I’m gonna tackle that thing!” Vinnie declared before rocketing through everything for the big bulky white anti-unit suit that was threshing pirate suits and starfighters like wheat.

“At least she’s consistent with her theme…” Kevin sighed.

🎺

We had barely made it into the atmosphere of Aiur II. The Bebop, Tarasque and the Moondast Gruss were all that made it through without being waylaid. I’d feel terrible about our chances, but most of the blockade runners were limping through now that a golden Gundam of all things bodily tackled that giant fuckoff anti-MS MS and the non-Rodis were now having to contend with Argentine forces too.

I launched along with Jimbo and we rapidly destroyed the AA point-defense turrets and the few Garm Rodis at the spaceport with little issue. With an LZ secured, the Bebop landed and began deploying droid-controlled Garm Rodis of our own, hot-printed off an Argentine forge ship. While the Argentines frowned upon attrition warfare, we’re pressed for time and this was just a temporary measure to set up for the Argentines landing once the defenses were mopped up.

“Do we have any targets in the area?” I asked over the comms as I sweeped the monoeye of my mobile suit to get a better profile of the battlefield.

Most of the forces on the ground looked to be clones of some sort and poorly trained at that. They were equipped with basic space suits and laser rifles that did decent damage to armor plating by boiling it away, but they were low yield and took repeated shots. No enemy mobile suits on the ground yet, they were mostly in orbit.

“Not seeing much and I have no idea what is with all these clones. There are normally more standard forces for the surface garrison.” Jimbo commented with what little knowledge of Aiur II he had from his very brief visit to the world.

“You will bow down to Profit!” A group of Corpus units yelled as they rushed out of a maintenance tunnel further down main street north of the landing site.

“I don’t think the Corpus made any alliances with the UnSC…how did they sneak in?” I asked myself as the Force told me they were desperate and only trying to secure a path towards…ah.

“They might have been the crews that brought those Corpus model Mobile Suits we’re fighting right now.” Edward suggested and I nodded. Why else would a Corpus Cargo Carrier be dry-docked over in the shipping yard? Then the Corpus began firing on the clones as hordes of their combat moas began pouring past them. “Or…they just got here before us.”

“Trojan horse.” Kevin remarked and I sighed. I sense they’ll be a problem, but not soon enough to prioritize, we’ll establish a perimeter and let any enterprising Argentines have some fun. What does have priority is securing a route to the UnSC headquarters that doesn’t involve blowing it up in any way. The Force practically grabbed my shoulders and shook me for considering it. “Drop pods incoming.” They will be landing on the drop pads in 3, 2, 1. *Kchnk!*

“Nice aim, right on the inertia negation pads.” Used by cargo catapult systems launching down from orbit. Infinitely cheaper than flying it all down if not necessary. Also useful for drop pods.

“I’ve spotted a mobile suit.” Jimbo reported before a half-built mobile suit looking like a gundam came out of a factory elevator. The Force screamed at me and I moved to intercept. “I’ve got your six!” Good stallion!

🎺

“For Profit-!” *Bloosh!* The cry was interrupted by the screamer being turned into a red mist.

“Fuck your profit!” Abalok retorted harshly after he shot the clone. The Crusader Captain along with many others were the vanguard spearheading the infantry charge down the side-streets and alleyways towards UnSC HQ that were too small for Mobile Suits while their Mobile support held the LZ and dealt with the enemy MSs. It was their job to siege the HQ, carefully.

“Greedy motherfuckers.” Another Argentine scornfully remarked as they secured the perimeter. “I don’t know about you, but I wanna settle down and make a family after this bullshit is over.”

“That actually sounds like a good idea.” Abolok nodded in agreement.

“Be advised: Lord Berserker is making landfall. Repeat, Lord Berserker is making Landfall.”

“Must have made it past that gunship-sized Mobile Suit.”

“As in he rammed through the damn thing multiple times. Seriously, that’s a fucking waste of resources.” They shook their heads in disappointment until they heard the Berserker roaring through the sky until he landed at the LZ with a stylish instant U-turn air-brake to bleed inertia.

🎺

Bryan transformed back into his base form and made his way into the established LZ command to see Jet and other administrators of the Rebels not currently piloting an MS or other vehicle already directing at a hologram projector hastily put on top of some crates. They couldn’t just do this from one of the ships due to the layers of communications scrambling the UnSC had up, which the UnSC hologram tactical system had a key to bypass.

“How are we doing?” He asked the salty old military dog.

“We’ve got the spaceport locked down now. The enemy’s AA batteries are currently being handled by our sapper squads, your Crusaders are over halfway through the backways to the HQ and right now, the only Mobile assets the enemy has planetside are droid-driven Garm Rodis and an unknown prototype that is keeping both Jane and Jim occupied.” Jet answered promptly as he used his cybernetics to get the hologram to zoom in on the subjects.

“Unknown? As in, an unfinished prototype is putting up more of a fight?” That was rather surprising. “Any way for them to disable it and have its remains towed back?”

“Unlikely. Jane’s brief replies hint the pilot may well be a Force Sensitive at the least, possibly even a proper Force User or just a psychic. They are reacting before either Jane or Jim even act, forcing them on the back foot.” Jet clicked his tongue. “Way I see it, best way is to use an AOE attack so fast that there is no way to resist even with foresight or otherwise force it to flee.”

“It isn’t like their usual design philosophy. Instead of being a modular unit like most mass-production models made by the Corps, it’s an overengineered proof of concept.” Hildra commented, the Raskvel’s expert eyes able to tell more than most from a hologram. “That thing’s power output has to be from Golden Age tech. No other way it can hold up to two GA Mobiles.” The purple shortstack declared.

“It’s a Specialist.” Bryan simplified. The half-done mech had all its motive parts finished, but was clearly lacking armor in places. Ironically, the missing armor plates made it more dangerous by letting it move faster. “Likely a pre-production proof-of-concept prototype. Whatever it was meant to be, this…MK-5 is pretty much as good as its model could get before mass production.”

“You spotted that designation paint too, huh? I wonder if there are a 1 through 4. That degree of R&D would be imperative if we were going to regain some of the glory of the past.” Jet hummed, then moved the hologram around before pinging a specific group of droid-driven Garm Rodis. “Units Procyon 12, 17 and 93, head to these coordinates, ready your long range packages.”

“Hm.” Bryan hummed himself, already seeing what Jet was up to.

“Way I see it, whether psychic or Force powered, if they aren’t clairvoyant or precognitive, whoever this is shouldn’t sense droids as easily as living people. Especially if we don’t alert the people fighting them.” Jet reasoned while scanning the battlefield. “Crusaders, you have more Mobiles deploying from a previously hidden motor pool at the HQ, advise retaining tight quarters and avoiding lines of sight. Knowing you, asking you to retreat is an insult.”

“Roger, thanks for the heads up.”

🎺

This, fucker! This absolute, fucker! I am so high on adrenaline right now, because this Mobile, Jim and I have been dancing around the outskirts of the city, tearing through short buildings and the jungle alike trying to kill each other. This enemy and I had similar reaction speeds. Whoever the pilot is, they must be Force Sensitive at the least for Battle Precognition to be running at such a high turnover frequency.

Jim didn’t have the Force, but what he had was the nascent Aspect of War thanks to being a certified Demigod from his time as a god. Still, it stung to admit, but Jim was actually holding me back. Half of why we’re still fighting after maybe twenty minutes of constant battle with little to show for it besides superficial damage was because of how much I have had to save Jim.

“I’m planning to withdraw. I’m just holding you back.” Jim snarled angrily and while I appreciated he wasn’t too prideful to acknowledge that, I felt bad because Jim is an amazing pilot, this guy is just my level of bullshit. However, when Jim began flying in reverse, using his suit’s head lasers to dissuade pursuit, two high-caliber MS-scale rifle rounds blasted off the left shoulder pauldron of the MK-5 and a third, miraculously, hit center mass. “...Okay, who was that and why didn’t you warn us about crossfire?!”

“Procyon-93, roger-roger. Cockpit shot confirmed.” A droid? A fresh B1 mass-production droid did that? Wow. Argentine manufacturing is so much better than what our universe retained.

“Negative, Procyon-12 reporting. Enemy suit still functioning, roger-roger.” My full attention returned to the MK-5. It was still moving, just slightly stilted, before it resumed full function.

“Positive, Procyon-17 correcting. Target hit, target is alive, target is not typical lifeform.” Now that this has been pointed out, I began to focus the Force on the mind of my enemy now that I had somewhere to focus.

Madness. Wrath. Hatred. Pain.

It was a wretched existence, lashing out in any way it could. I felt sadness and pity for this creature. Whatever, whoever it was, the UnSC have reduced it to little more than an organic operating system for this prototype. I dodged its lunge and let it grapple me, but I steadied myself, focused. Then, the MK-5 stopped moving, because I grabbed all the organic tissue within and crushed it. “Jane here, I need someone to free me from a frozen Mobile, over.”

🎺

Edward was busier than she could ever remember being. Not even waking up those slumbering Planters on Hogarth IV had her hacking her way through systems this fast and hard. Her dad was right, the Corps spare no expense in their self interest while leaving everyone else holding the bag. Nobody was bothering her save Ein and Aurora, but they were just being encouraging.

“Yip, yip, yip, yip!” Ein barked as he danced around Edward’s spot in the captain’s chair of the Bebop since she needed all of the available hardware and software of the ship to even attempt this. Ed was so focused, she barely noted that Ein was wearing a lampshade.

“Um, I think Ein ate some mushrooms.” Aurora muttered nervously, but kept shaking her bright orange pom-poms. Ed didn’t know why her bat girl best friend was wearing a skimpy cheerleader outfit too, but the goofiness helped keep Ed focused, even if that made no sense to anyone else. Ed also didn’t want to admit she thought Aurora looked good for her young age of 13 human years. All the nutrition she was getting was helping her grow up healthy.

“Ah ah ah, you didn’t say the magic word! Ah ah ah, you didn’t say the magic word!” Played from Edward’s rig as a fat stallion appeared on her screen wagging a finger at her before the system started to kick her out. Ed just kept typing with her blue feet as she grabbed her Galaxy Gulp and drank the sugary goodness of energy drink mixed with coffee and tea. “Access…granted.”

“Ah, I’m in, time for Ed to have fun.” Edward grinned. Within minutes, half the UnSC fleet’s automated systems turned on the sapients to assist the Rebel Alliance while draining all the money from the company’s bank accounts and funneling into charities and the Alliance coffers.

🎺

“Look out below!” Came over the comms as a Warmaster Titan made landfall, along with Mobile Suits attached to it. Titans outsized MSs by half, allowing especially bulky units such as the Warmaster to act as carry-on escorts. That said, the Titan mech landed upon the outskirts of the city limits to avoid creating a large crater and knocking down buildings in the process. Its surcoat was a bit singed, but nothing to fret over. “Made Landfall! All Mobile Suits deploy!”

The Gun-EZs, the Gundam model the Argentines decided was worth a trial run of mass-producing, magnetically adhered to the back of the even larger mech detached and landed before running full-tilt into the city. The Gunners were able to move as if they were on foot thanks to the MTS. Each Gun-EZ was equipped with a downscaled 120mm Colossal rotary plasma gun mounted to a pack unit on the jetpack along with a modified UnSC 90mm SMG.

They were rushing to intercept the new stream of Garm Rodis deploying from the HQ before they could pin down and possibly wipe out the Crusaders hunkering down in the city attempting to connect the spaceport to the tall spire of a building so infantry can flood the megastructure. That and prevent the Crusaders from doing something suicidal like hijacking said Garm Rodis.

Likely droid-driven or not, those things were still the size of small buildings and could kill even supersoldiers given half the chance. Not to mention the Crusaders likely didn’t have the training for the ass-backwards cockpits of these retrograde mobile suits. Even if the Rodi Frame itself was admittedly promising, but if appropriated would likely be used as frontier, reserve, surplus or automated security like they were fulfilling here. They just need an MTS to-.

“Wait, where did the Crusaders go?” One of the Gunners asked and the others looked around to find them nowhere at their last reported coordinates in a tight series of alleyways and footpaths deep in the city. “Please tell me they didn’t-agh?!” Suddenly, a wrecked Garm Rodi was thrown at him by said Crusaders who were a little battered but still standing.

“Who the fuck do you think we are?! Sure, they broke like, maybe five arms among us, but no casualties otherwise!” Captain Abalok retorted and the Gunners groaned in frustration at the Crusaders’ antics.

“Not again.”

“It’s them. I wouldn’t put it past the Ghosts and Chasers. They just took the direct approach.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Fuck you pansy-ass artillerists! We’ve captured several of these things intact and have rerouted their droid pilots to our networks, now get to escorting!” Abalok ordered irately.