... Something's burning.

Deployment 8: Reach Out to the Sky Someday Part 3

Sleipnir, Dort 2, Orbital Airspace

"I need an update!" Galileo ordered.

"Hraesvelgr is currently engaging with the three Gundam-Types backed by several Shiden Kais!" An officer barked out. "Nidhoggr is facing one Gundam-Type and several unidentified Mobile Suits!"

"Ratatoskr is holding the line between Dort 3's entry and the evacuation line, sir!"

"Huginn and Muninn are now sending out Mobile Suits to bolster our defensive lines!"

"Jormungandr has sent out Reginlaze Julieta to the front lines to engage the three Gundam-Types spotted in Dort 10!"

So far, so good.

"The enemy is so far not making any drastic moves..." Galileo thought. "... Or that's what they're making me try to think."

He then stands back up from his seat.

"Establish connection to all other motherships!" Galileo ordered. "I need all visuals from all MS forces, STAT!"

The communication officers immediately got to work on relaying their captain's message to all other ships.

The intercom was then flooded with the feed of several battles taking place throughout the whole Dort Colonies.

"What the..." Galileo spoke out as he spotting something protruding from Dort 10's hulls. "Somebody zoom in on the image of Dort 10!"

The image was enlarged into higher definition.

"... A vernier?" He thought. "Just what are they planning?"

He then looked at the other images of the other Dort Colonies, with each image baring a similar pattern to Dort 10's.

"Relay orders to investigate the outer areas on the Dort colonies." Galileo spoke out. "And just in case, get the Kimaris ready, should my suspicions be proven true."

"Yes sir." The officer stated. "... But are you sure about the possible deployment? I mean, in my opinion, the survival rate going up against three Gundam-Types simultaneously are rather slim."

"That's why I'm avoiding direct combat." Galileo cooly replied. "Why do you think I would make this decision if I didn't know that my odds of survival are rather low?"

"... I'll inform the hangar crew to install extra boosters on your Mobile Suit, just in case, sir." The officer stated.

"Noted." Galileo replied as he sat back down.

He continues to monitor the situation over the Dort Colonies, keeping an eye out on the verniers attached to its hulls.

"Wait..."

Galileo then leans towards the projection of Dort 10, spotting something glowing.

"No..." Galileo shuddered out. "... It couldn't be!"

On a gut feeling, Galileo runs out of his seat.

"SIR, WHERE'RE YOU GOING!?" An officer cried out.

"I'M HEADING OUT!" Galileo barked back. "TELL ALL FRIENDLY MS TO PULL BACK ON DORT 10! WE GOT ANOTHER GUNDAM COMING FROM THE COLONY!"

"U-UNDERSTOOD, SIR!" The officer cried out. "RELAYING MESSAGE TO HANGAR!"

Galileo then dashes down the halls of the ship and to the hangar.

Upon arriving at the hangar in his pilot suit, he spots Argenteus, sipping on a packet of strawberry milk.

"I thought I put you back on standby." Galileo stated.

"Thought I see you off." The silver-haired private replied. "I heard what happened. Things are about to go FUBAR up this rate, and... well, call it instinct."

The Balduin heir ignores the disinherited Issue.

"All I'm sayin', watch your back." Argenteus stated as he left the hangar.

Galileo grumbles as he got into the cockpit.

"No need to tell me twice..." He mumbled as he got on.

The cockpit closes right before the HUDs light up.

"I swear, I wish I was a Major so I can court martial that asshole..." He grumbled as he put on his seatbelts. "I mean, I know that he's the only remaining Issue heir left, but seriously, admittingly brilliant as a soldier and MS operative he is, his conduct is just unacceptable..."

The Gundam Kimaris Vidar is then moved the launchpad.

"Until then..." Galileo sighed out. "... I got bigger fish to fry."

The signal blares.

"This Galileo Balduin, in Gundam Kimaris Vidar!" He declared. "Taking off!"

The Gundam launches into the chaotic warzone, propelled by its additional thrusters rigged onto its back.

"Come on, let me make in time!" Galileo cried out.

He then sees the Reginlaze Julieta from a distance.

"JULIETA!" He cried through the comms.

The hulls of Dort 10 began to glow red hot.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY-"

The hulls explode into molten steel, and from the gap emerged Gundam Belial, soaring out of the darkness like a bat out of hell.

Wasting no time, the hellion shoots out both of its arms out towards the MS company, grabbing two Grazes in their cockpits right before setting the internals on fire.

"ALL MS UNITS, PULL BACK!" Galileo ordered. "I REPEAT, PULL BACK-"

He then spots a familiar-looking white Mobile Suit speeding towards his Kimaris.

"... Gundam Barbatos Takemikazuchi?" He spoke out in confusion. "So even he sold himself out..."

His grips on the Kimaris's controls tighten until his knuckles turn white.

"... Nothing's changed, hasn't it?" He sighed out in disappointment. "It's back to me killing you without any care left in the world..."

He then spots the Barbatos flying towards him.

"But unfortunately for you..." He grimaced. "... I got bigger fish to fry."

Kimaris then charges towards Belial.

"GALILEO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Julieta's voice screeched out through the comms.

The drill-lance begins to spin as the Gundam dodges the wired claws from the Belial.

"I know all of your moves now, Gundam!" Galileo cried out as he maneuvered around Belial's arms and legs. "You won't pin me down this time-"

To Galileo's surprise, the Belial's head pops off of its neck base and shoots itself towards the Kimaris.

"WHAT!?" He stated in shock. "It's head can detach too!?"

The disembodied head of the Belial clamps down on the Kimaris's chest, its teeth tearing into the cockpit.

"Shit!" He cried out as he put his helmet on. "C'mon, break off, you bastard!"

Then the Mobile Suit trembles, as if it was hit by something.

"Shit!" He snapped as he tried to struggle his way out of Belial's grip. "I forgot about its hands and feet!"

Then the insides of the cockpit begin to feel slightly warmer.

"... Oh crap." He shuddered out.

Right in point-blank of the cockpit hatch, the Belial's blowtorch was starting to warm up, along with its claw and talon flamethrowers, ready to turn Kimaris into an improv furnace.

"... Wait!" Galileo thought. "What if I can do... that?"

Before the heat can reach his cockpit, the Kimaris disconnects two of its boosters.

"Now..." He stated as the temperature began to rise inside of his cockpit. "... JULIETA!"

A whip-blade strikes both boosters nearing around Belial's arms, causing both to detonate, and releasing Kimaris from Belial's grip, the hellion's teeth holding on the now-dislodged hatch as its blowtorch melts through the Nanolaminate hulls with its jet of blue flame.

"That was a close one..." Galileo sighed out.

"Galileo."

The Bauduin scion freezes at Julieta's stern voice.

"Remind me to kick the crap out you once we're back on Earth." She stated.

All he can do was sigh out in frustration as a response.

"But in hindsight..." Galileo thought. "I really should know that Belial was packing heat in its mouth, improbable as it may be..."

"GALILEO!"

He then spots the cloaked Barbatos coming after them.

"Shit!" He cried out. "I'll cover fire! You focus on getting us out of here!"

The Kimaris then began firing at the Barbatos, its KEP Rounds barely scratching the cloak around the White Devil.

The Reginlaze Julieta manages to pull the Kimaris away from the heated blade's swing, aside from leaving another scratch on the Kimaris's upper torso.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Julieta barked out.

"I know!" Galileo barked back.

The cloaked Gundam unfurls its cloak into a set of white wings, immediately gaining more speed and closing the gap between it and the severely-damaged Kimaris ferried by the draconic-looking Reginlaze.

"... You've got to be kidding me."

The Gundam closes in with a seven-barreled shotgun pointed towards Galileo.

Knowing that this shot would kill him, Galileo grips onto his controllers, and moves the leg of his MS with its drill in its knee vent, fully intending to take the Gundam down with him.

"COME ON, YOU BASTARD-"

But before the drill can emerge from the knee, a shield-wielding Mobile Suit tackles both the Gundam and the Reginlaze out of the way of the blast.

The unknown Mobile Suit was then blasted point-blank by the Barbatos's seven-barreled shotgun, shattering its shield and its left arm.

"Just who was that!?" Galileo asked.

Julieta then analyzed the unknown Mobile Suit.

"... A Reginlaze Early Type." Julieta stated. "It's a friendly, so there's no possibly of turning on us."

"Alright then, but who's behind the wheel?" Galileo asked.

The HUD then flashes to reveal a certain silver-haired private behind the wheel.

"Yo." Argenteus greeted. "Thought you might do something rash so I snuck behind you after you launched."

"WHAT THE HELL, PRIVATE ISSUE!?" Galileo barked out. "ARE YOU RISKING A COURT MARTIAL FOR INSUBORDINATION!?"

"They say that all warfare is based on deception." Argenteus justified. "Can't count as deception if someone already knows of my plan."

"... Of all the excuses, you had quote Sun Tzu." Galileo grumbled.

"Either way, he has a point." Julieta stated. "That was extremely reckless, coming from you."

"... Point made." He sighed out. "We should run."

"I'll hold them off." Argenteus stated. "Jules, get Prince Charming out of here."

The ace doesn't say a word other than a small grumble, leaving the damaged Reginlaze behind with the two enemy Gundams.

The dark hellion halts the White Devil, and points towards the Reginlaze Early Type standing alone.

"They're just standing there..." He muttered. "... Better make some distance before the change their mind..."

The Reginlaze began to slowly make distance away from the two presumably bickering Gundams.

"Normally, I would make a cheap shot to clean the two off, but two things are a big no-no." Argenteus thought. "One, standard-issue Gjallarhorn arms don't do jack shit against those friggin Gundams, so I'd just be getting their attention. And two."

He looked at his HUD, with the number reading "6".

"I only got two bursts left on my rifle, and kinda forgot to bring spares..." Argenteus grimaced. "... Then again, I did technically hijack this suit, so that my fault."

The two Gundams then break from each other and retreat back to their lines.

"... They're retreating?" He commented. "... Something tells me that there's more to it."

Then he then hears an alarm coming from his HUD.

"Crap, almost out of fuel." He muttered. "Better head back."

The Reginlaze Early Type slowly heads back to the Sleipnir.

Back at Sleipnir...

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you out of the airlock, right, now." Galileo remarked in a barely-restrained fury.

"I saved your life?" Argenteus remarked. "It wasn't a deus ex machina wasn't gonna save ya, so I took it upon myself to be the deus ex machina that saves people's lives."

On the main bridge's HUD, Lord Rustal and Julieta were glowering at Argenteus from the projection.

"Argenteus..." Rustal sighed out. "... I'll see you at my office for your misconduct after the battle is over. Until then, I've relayed an all hands on deck order. We're not suspending any MS operatives in this kind of situation, not when the enemy is so close, understood?"

"... Yes sir." Galileo stated reluctantly.

The projection shuts off, leaving the two hanging dry.

Galileo sits back down on the main bridge, going back to inspecting the battlefield.

"Private Argenteus Fenris Issue." Galileo ordered. "Prepare to deploy in 20 minutes."

"Yes sir." Argenteus saluted right before he left.

After the silver-haired maverick left, Galileo palms his own face.

"... Goddammit, I'm becoming like Iok." He groaned out.

At the ship's hangar, Argenteus, now once again in his pilot suit, waits by the railings.

"You're lucky that you took a defective model, otherwise the Captain might've kicked ya arse." The crewman commented.

"Eh, not my first time." Argenteus replied as he took a sip from his strawberry milk. "So, any spare fuel tanks for the defective Reginlaze?"

"It's a good thing that the parts from the Grazes and the Reginlaze are compatible with each other..." The crewman stated. "So yeah, we can do a patch-job at best, since one of our guys are out of commission for food poisoning..."

"Lovely." Argenteus dryly remarked. "But still..."

He then tosses the empty packet into a waste bin like a basketball.

"... What caused the Captain to be so alarmed that he charged balls deepinto the Dort 10 airspace?" He thought.

His thoughts began to raise as the Reginlaze Early Type was being repaired.

"Okay, first, recall that the enemy has currently occupied Dort 10, as stated by that fucking Gundam bursting out of its hulls like a bat out of hell..." He thought. "Then came the fact that those bastards are welding rockets onto the colonies, but for what?"

For Argenteus, two thoughts came to mind;

One: the enemy weren't after occupying Dort Colonies, or else they wouldn't go out of their way to destroy the colonies themselves.

So that left with two: the rockets.

"Of course rockets would be used for propellants, but what's the purpose?" Argenteus thought. "If anything, all they would be doing is to set that on a crash... course..."

... The enemy's objective was now clear.

"A fucking Colony Drop..." He gasped out. "Just like the one that poked a massive hole in the middle of Australia during the Calamity War..."

He then bolts back to the bridge fast as he can.

"OI, WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?" One of the crewmen cried out.

"GET THE MS READY! WE NEED TO STOP THEM, FAST!"

Back at the bridge, Galileo was also connecting the dots together.

"... Those bastards aren't serious." He muttered in horrified realization.

"... Sir?" One of the officers addressed. "Is something the matter?"

Galileo was unresponsive to the concern.

For inside, a hurricane of emotions raged on in his consciousness.

"Forget about unlawful occupation of the Dort Colonies, those insane fucks are about start up another Calamity War!"

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Sorry about the slight rush-job, I kinda wanna pump this out as soon as possible before the month ends.

Because obligations. Running 4 on-going fics at the same time

IRL Notes: College is going surprisingly great, my dad's back at the hospital again for another treatment, and everything his hunky-dory.

... I think. Still too soon to tell.

OC Mobile Suit Specs

EB-08a1 Reginlaze (Early Type): One of the first 10 Reginlaze testing models produced in the Gjallarhorn Mobile Suit R&D. This particular model was considered defective for the designers forgetting to install spare ammo storage and an updated fuel tank, causing this unit to be labeled a failure, and sold in the black market for a quick buck, eventually gaining a reputation as some sort of a disproportionately-priced knickknack. Fortunately, 7 out of 10 units were salvaged from the black market, but three were lost from Gjallarhorn, but those three each had a faulty HUD (a5), limb articulation (a7), and camera wiring (a9), so the whole MS smuggling incident was swept under the rug, proceeding with the productions of the Reginlaze proceeded without delay. There have been rumors that the Early Types were deliberately sabotaged mid-production so that the manufacturers could make a quick buck by selling overpriced defective prototypes, but the rumor still has been unproven to this day, to the point that the rumor lost all intrigue and just got branded as another case of Gjallarhorn internal scandals.