Chapter 2: The Changing Tides

1819 hours... Honour thought as he maneuvered his midget sub closer to shore. Only one minute left, and if he didn't get there soon enough...

"Ten more meters sir..." his techie, a young sonar man by the name of Rollins, reported. Honour merely grimaced at that. Ten meters was so short a distance, but with those stronger than expected currents...

"Three meters..." Rollins reported as he prepared to flick the switch.

"Come on... Come on..." Honour muttered quietly to himself, and hoping that the spot that Anaheim infiltrator had set for them was the right one...

"One meter left..." Rollins reported as his hand now firmly clutched the switch.

Honour nodded as he decided to check his time. It would be 1820 hours just about... now.

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"And there goes the sun..." one of the control tower watch controllers reported as he saw the last beams of light fade away into the ocean.

"Sir, I think we're getting some sort of Minovsky interference out here..." one of the radar operators suddenly reported.

"Check it again," the senior officer ordered tiredly, "Maybe it's just that new prototype acting up again..."

"Sir, I don't think it's just that prototype..." the operator added worriedly.

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"Where is that prototype?" one of the gunners manning the Guntank turrets around the base muttered as he checked his watch. That damn Titans pilot was late again. What the hell was holding it up?

"Dunno..." one of his fellow gunners replied over the radio, "Maybe the thing is..."

Suddenly, without warning, a huge explosion rocked the very heart of the base. Instinctively, all four of the Guntank turrets turned towards the direction of the explosion, fearing a surprise attack. But no enemy units appeared, instead, it appeared to be the burning hangar that had once housed the prototype...

"DAMN IT!" the tower controller suddenly boomed over the radio, "What the ****ing crap just happened?!" He knew prototypes weren't reliable, but this was just too...

And then there was a flash. A flash as a light blue beam suddenly ripped through the control tower and vaporized it, killing the command staff and reducing the radar station to ashes. Another shot followed, and one of the Guntank emplacements suddenly exploded in a brilliant white fireball...

The battery commander saw that and began to squint his eye towards were he supposed the fire had come from. To his dismay, he saw nothing, and cringed as he heard the screams of one of his gun crews as another beam blew another one of his turrets apart. Around him, the base was slowly but sure coming to life. Men were beginning to arm themselves with small arms, and the submarines were being prepared for immediate departure, but with no idea what they were up to...

"Gun battery, what the hell is happening out there?" the Lieutenant commanding the GM II teams demanded as his personal team of three re-entered the base perimeter. Suddenly, there was another flash as a huge fuel tank went up in flames, now covering the entire base in thick, black smoke and limiting their visibility even more...

Damn it... the battery commander thought as he tried to use his IR sensors and found that the heat from the burning fuel tank was now obscuring his view. "****! I can't see a thing!"

"IR sensors are out here too sir..." the other surviving turret reported, "I can't see... Oh ****!"

And then there was another explosion, but this time the battery commander managed to spot what he thought to be a moving shape and fired. An explosion followed, but to his dismay he found that he had just hit one of their own ammunition dumps...

"Missed me..." a cold, female voice suddenly declared itself over the "Guards" channel. The battery commander suddenly heard the sound of a giant, metallic foot stepping right behind his gun, and he began to turn. He was just in time to see the Zugok E2, its claws already reaching towards him...

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"Fire! Fire!" the now panicking GM II squad leader ordered as he spotted the E2 standing right behind the last surviving turret. To their dismay and horror, the Zugock suddenly launched itself into the air, causing their shots to hit and destroy what had been left of a friendly gun turret instead. As the Zugock came down, the team tried to adjust their fire, but the Zugock was already firing back, quickly leaving neat holes in the cockpits of two of the GM IIs and decapitating the third. The last survivor frantically tried to shoot back, but without a main camera to guide his aim, the pilot was doomed. Yoko fired another shot that left a hole in the GM II where the cockpit should have been.

And with that, Yoko grinned savagely as she turned around and aimed for one of the hangars. She was really back now. Back to her old job. As she aimed, a Guntank II began to rumble its way out of the hangar, but it was too late. She fired a single beam shot that went clean through the base of the Guntank's turret and pierced right through two more Guntank IIs behind it. A huge explosion followed as the entire hangar went up in flames.

By that time a second hangar had begun to come to life as pilots began to man the waiting GM IIs still inside. Unfortunately, Yoko had already been briefed about this facility, and had already earmarked some specialized equipment just for this purpose. An anti-tank team tried to lob a missile at her to stop her from getting to the hangar, but she evaded the puny rocket with ease before firing a beam that vaporized the launcher. A second anti-tank team attempted to set up their own launcher in a vain attempt to stop her just as the hangar doors began to open, but then Yoko threw an explosives packed rocket pod right through the door. The pod broke open upon smashing into the hangar interior and released a massive volley of rockets in the tight space within the hangar. Combined with the unprotected fuel and ammunition still lying within the hangar, the results were spectacular. The hangar literally disintegrated as a massive fireball slowly arched up into the air in a miniature mushroom cloud, vaporizing everyone nearby...

But now, Yoko realized, her problems were about to really begin. A second squad of GM IIs and Guntank IIs had now returned to the base, fully armed and ready to exact revenge for their comrades. Ordinarily, they wouldn't have been that great of a threat to her, but she was now facing a logistical problem. The beam gun hadn't been fully charged for the planned test operation tonight, and she was now down to three shots. But if all went according to plan...

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Captain Jean Powell took one quick check of his heavily loaded GM II. They were carrying an awful lot of weapons for this type of mission, but with the opposition they were facing...

"Alright! We're over the target area!" the Midea Kai pilot suddenly screamed over the radio, "GO!"

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"Alright! Set it up!" an anti-tank section leader ordered as he saw the Zugock E2 blow up another one of the base's GM IIs. Those AEUG *******s had caught them unawares, but now it was time to get that son of a ***** that had been laying waste to the base and killing his friends. The team had just finished loading the first anti-tank missile when they suddenly realized the air above them wasn't so friendly anymore...

Two Midea Kais had suddenly swept over the base, parachutes now blossoming behind their twin tails. For a moment, the section leader was shocked at the sight, not knowing how something so old fashioned could happen in this day and age...

But another section leader was thinking of something else. This leader had commanded a portable SAM unit, and his earlier frustration of having no targets to shoot at was now replaced by a grim determination to exact revenge. He fired a missile, followed by two others from other teams, which arced straight towards the first Midea Kai. Unfortunately for him, the pilot Midea had been anticipating this, and had already begun jinking and dropping flares as soon as the last paratroopers had jumped from his plane. Only one missile had found its mark, ripping away a small part of the left tail wing, but otherwise leaving the plane unscathed. Other follow on missiles proved equally futile.

Back on the ground, the leader of the anti-tank section had begun to recollect his wits and ordered his men to aim at the Zugock E2. Before they could fire though, three paratroopers landed right in their mists, and the already shell-shocked team was too confused to react against the prepared and battle hardened paratroopers. The paratroopers cut the whole team down in two quick bursts of fire, their launcher never having fired a single shot.

"Not bad guys," Yoko commented over the loud speaker as she turned towards the trio of paratroopers, just before firing a shot that exploded a Guntank II. She quickly recognized one of the three. It was one of the team's best squad leaders, Sergeant William O'Connor. O'Connor returned the compliment by sending the newly "requisitioned" anti-tank missile into the mono-sensor of an unwary GM II.

"Don't get too relaxed yet Yoko..." Jean warned as his GM II landed hard on the ground before firing a burst that finished off the GM II O'Connor had hit, "We still have one unfinished objective," Jean then pointed towards the dock area. A U-class submarine was now slowly easing its way out of the dock...

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The Captain of the U-607 could hardly believed what had happened. An entire base, gone in less than half an hour. A few pockets of resistance were still holding out, but with no heavy weapons left...

"Sir! The U-605 has just departed," the helmsman reported, "We can leave now!"

The Captain nodded before signaling the helmsman to ease the sub out of the dock. Those AEUG rebels might have destroyed the base, but they weren't going to get HIS sub...

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Damn, we're cutting it a little close... O'Connor thought as he motioned his squad to move forward. He had found only six of the nine men who were supposed to be under his command, but he was already prepared to go in shorthanded. The whole success of the operation literally depended on his paratroopers.

O'Connor had been leading his squad through a small set of canals that had been dug to lead right into the base's dock area. Not only did it provide them some protection from the shrapnel and bullets still flying around, but it also let them get close to the submarine pens undetected. And surprise was needed, if they wanted to get one of those U-class intact that is...

"One enemy sub is beginning to leave the dock sir," one of his men reported worriedly as he took a quick peek out of the canal. A stream of tracers nearly took his head off just before he ducked back down into cover.

One's already going? O'Connor thought, damn that was fast! At this rate they would be lucky to get one sub...

"What'll we do sir?" one of his men suddenly asked as another stream of tracers passed by overhead.

"Keep going guys..." O'Connor ordered. It wasn't over yet. They still had Yoko. And that little sub under Honour...

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"We have managed to leave the dock area!" the helmsman of the U-607 reported, "The U-606 will follow shortly..."

"Good..." the skipper replied as he took a quick scan of the surrounding area with his periscope. The enemy Mobile Suits were still busy dealing with the few defenders that the base still had left. Good. They were all getting away after all... "Contact all nearby Federation commands and inform them of the situation. We're not going to let those AEUG rebels hold us down for long!!"

A huge explosion suddenly gave lie to that statement.

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"Oh my God..." the XO of the U-606 remarked right before he went down the conning tower hatch. The U-605, which had been at the head of the fleeing column of submarines, had suddenly exploded and broken in half. Men he knew casually were now swimming helplessly in the water, and were now being slowly burned to death. The U-605's fuel tanks had been breached and the fuel set ablaze when the explosion had ripped the ship apart, and the XO could only watch helplessly as the men were all roasted alive...

On the U-607 however, the panic was even more pronounced. The U-605 had been right in front of her, and the U-607 was now finding herself slowly inching towards the burning remnants of her sister. The helmsman instinctively turned hard to starboard in order to avoid the conflagration, trampling several men struggling in the water as it did so, but it proved to be grave mistake. The sub ran straight into a second mine.

Honour could hardly believe his luck as Rollins reported a second catastrophic explosion after the first. It had been his midget sub that had been laying the mines all over the harbor to prevent any submarines from escaping, but he never thought that he'd get TWO on his first sortie. Maybe Anaheim people weren't so useless after all...

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Oh God... the XO of the U-606 thought on. Two subs. So many men... How...

"Close the ***ING hatch XO!" the skipper suddenly ordered as he realized that his second in command was still staring dumbfounded outside. Two subs had already been lost, and he was in no mood to join those two...

"Uhh... aye sir..." the XO replied just as he began to motion his way towards the hatch, still too shocked to completely process the gravity of the situation. And too shocked to notice that O'Connor was already behind him...

O'Connor had just climbed up the last flight of ladders to the conning tower when he immediately spotted the XO start moving towards the hatch. The response was quick and immediate. He aimed and fired two shots that sent the poor man tumbling down through the hatch. As the crewmen below struggled to grasp the situation, O'Connor heaved himself onto the deck and motioned his men to follow. A crewman began climbing up in an attempt to seal the hatch before O'Connor and his team cold get in, but he was unarmed, while O'Connor was not. O'Connor fired a shot that went through the man's arm just and sent him crashing back down the ladder. O'Connor and two of his men then prepared to board the ship by sending several bursts of fire down the narrow hatch to the control room, but this time the fire was returned as the submarine's crewmen had managed to begin arming themselves with small arms.

"Grenade sir?" one of O'Connor's men asked as he pulled the pin out of one of the grenades he was carrying. O'Connor quickly nodded in approval as he and three other troopers primed their grenades. At his signal, all five grenades were chucked down the hatch and into the control room below. All five detonated on impact.

O'Connor fired one last burst down the hatch, and seeing that there was no return fire, decided to risk taking a look. The men down below were all bloodily dead.

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"Last group..." Yoko reported as she began heading towards the last pillbox still firing back. Most of the men in the base had already been killed or captured after the paratroopers had landed, quite dangerously, right on top of the base, but it had been worth it. As Arnhem had shown, it was better getting 10% of your men killed on the drop and get the rest home afterwards than to get 80% of your men killed because you had to walk a couple of damn miles to the objective*. Before she reached the pillbox however, a squad of three paratroopers had finally managed to penetrate the stubborn defense it had put up and thrown their last three grenades into the defensive structure. A series of explosion followed, and the firing finally subsided.

"This is O'Connor" a grainy but calm voice declared over the radio, "We've done it. Enemy submarine captured, and seventeen enemy crewmen killed and another forty-seven captured. No casualties on our side. Send in the relief squads."

"Thank you William..." Yoko muttered to herself as she saw Captain Jean fire a red flare into the air, signaling another two Midea Kais that it was now safe to land. Below her, some two to three hundred prisoners, most of them wounded, were now being slowly dragged away by the paratroopers. It had been, on almost all accounts, a picture perfect Special Operations Mission. One that she had been dying to be part of since her days in the Zeon Navy. And it was an operation that had just deprived the Titans of a brand new fleet of U-class submarines and an extremely powerful amphibious Mobile Suit. Yoko watched the harbor in time to see the X-7 surface and begin to cruise slowly towards the now captured dock area. It was now 1857 hours. The tide was about to come in...

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* Hehe, sorry, been reading "A Bridge Too Far" AND watching "Band of Brothers"(up to episode 5 now), hence my referral to paratroop units and all things Market Garden-y. Love those guys from the Airborne, particularly the US 101st, British 1st, and Germany's 3rd Fallchirmjaegers.

Anyway, one of the recurring problems at Arnhem WAS that the drop was too far from the bridges(the prime objective), and on the way to Arnhem itself the British 1st Airborne was literally shot to pieces except for Frost's Battalion, who showed just how difficult it would have been for the Germans to dig them out of the town had they gotten there first. The reason for the misplaced drop points was that planners were afraid of losing some 10% of the Division on the drop itself since the terrain wasn't too ideal, against the wishes of many senior officers. The result of not taking the risk however, was terrible. Nearly 8000 out of the 10,000 men of the 1st Airborne Division were killed, wounded or captured.

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Notice: This fic and all its contents are copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting. No part of this work may be taken by any other person without permission from the author. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by Bandai and their respective companies.