Nasir saw the destruction of the three Sol Thero units before him and sighed with visible relief when he contacted Dana, "Thanks Captain. Never thought we'd get out of this one alive."
Dana shook off the offer when she answered, "It was a failure for us to not get here soon enough. Something of this city is still standing right?"
Nasir checked the ruins of the city through his camera when he agreed, "Yeah. It's something. We probably managed to stop these things from reaching our forces in Brussels though and that’s probably the key strategic advantage we have now."
Cinzia was the first to point out the issue with this tactic when she entered, "If that was their plan did they just land in an inconvenient place?"
Nasir groaned before he answered, "If they did I don't think they would have tried decimating the city as well. It’s not like we’d be able to interrogate them anyway."
Dana requested a report against the speculation when she asked, "How many capital forces are still alive?"
Nasir looked over the forces when he answered, "Probably next to none. They were all over the space port like it was nothing and reduced it to nothing." He sighed before continuing to chastise his own failure adding, "We weren't able to do anything Captain. They sent their missiles right over our heads."
Dana took things easy on Nasir when she told him, "I don't blame you. These things are able to take down more than we think. The leaders back home are not going to be happy with this though."
Mercurio checked the Sol Thero units were finally taken down and saw nothing but the continued burning of the wreckage around him. Even with the small success he knew the next challenge was going to be much more difficult unless the leaders had a plan. "We should make our way back Captain. We'll have to send them the bad news firsthand."
Dana showed no signs of protest when she agreed, "Time to get it over with then." She switched the Artemis’ signal to the carrier when she ordered, “Get us out of here Majewski. Ground forces are completely cleared out. Unfortunately we don’t have much to carry home.”

Gawel heard the command before he responded to his superior, “Roger that Captain. We’re moving in.”
Zachariah looked over the ruins on his side of the carrier when he asked, “So how many of them are still standing? You got a view over there?”
Gawel looked down when he answered, “Four. Got to admit that’s more than I thought they could handle.”
Zachariah rubbed his sweaty temples when he commented, “Just when we needed a turn for the Coalition to take a beating we end up being punished by something we built.”
“Doesn’t matter who did what, as soon as I find out who’s behind their altered programming I’m going to send somebody to meet their maker earlier than scheduled.”
“You think these things weren’t programmed by Architect I to do this?”
“The guy’s about shady enough to be a suspect but I’m not going to rest my entire case on him.” The conversation ended when Gawel found himself right above a clearing for the remaining units when he reported, “We’re landed Captain. Bring all survivors on board and we’ll take you on home.”
He heard the Captain’s confirmation when she answered, “Good work Majewski. We’re headed there now.”

The number of Sol Thero units continued to dwindle when Hyrum and the others continued to fire on the planet defensors. "We've got them on the run! Deplete everything!"
One of the pilots continued to fire while reporting on the problem of the defensors, “I can’t even tell if our shots are doing anything sir! It looks like those shields will take more than anything we have!”
“Better than lining up to die! Their shields won’t last so long against the Gundams though so keep firing!” Hyrum ordered as he continued every shot made.
Two of the Sol Thero units saw the thinning line of Panther units and evaluated their next move once they fired their last missiles. 'Bombardment ammunition depleted. Initiate final run.' They lifted their gatling guns and fired in both directions while building energy into their core system.
One of the pilots recognized the issue when he moved his unit back from the incoming storm. "The hell? Sir two of those things are headed right for us."
Hyrum stepped back and saw the immediate threat to their unit. "They're self-destructing! All units fall back!" He ordered. The volley of gatling fire continued to hit the escaping Panther units while they took the last available cover behind the buildings.
"Stop this!" Naina commanded when she swooped in with the Tallgeese Heaven. She fired twice with her buster rifle on a Sol Thero unit, the first shot breaking the planet defensors with the second one leaving a hole and an obliterated reactor. Before firing again she found her buster rifle had run out of ammo when the signal illuminated on her panel.
The Tallgeese dropped its buster rifle while preparing its heat rods in a cross-swipe towards the remaining Sol Thero unit. Before it could get close enough to the Panther line the Tallgeese sliced and saw the Sol Thero fall into pieces with its reactor destroyed. Naina saw the remains below and in that moment saw how final the mission was. These units were made to carry out their mission, this one being the destruction of Brussels, and with nothing to follow after. "This is what separates us. Anyone piloting these would consider the consequences of such an act."
She broke her contemplation when Hyrum ordered the Panther defenses, "Keep focus on the city! We've got missiles incoming!" The missiles flew over her head when he gave the warning.
Naina leaped up into the air with heat rods at the ready while warning, "Donna. Please watch my six. I have to take these ones out at close range."
Upon the flight of the Tallgeese a column of missiles were destroyed with its ascension as its heat rods swiped across the sky and made contact. The missiles continued to fly but were either shot down by the line of Panthers or completely missed their target. Naina searched through every pattern the Tallgeese could find and saw the few moving past their lines would only manage to hit the unpopulated areas. 

Heero endured the shockwave when he kept his balance pressing the bicep of his injured arm against the wall of his hangar. He looked around to see the ground soldiers still scrambling to make the way clear for the Wing 1 carrier when he requested, "How many of our forces are still out there?"
One of the men saluted, "Not many sir. We might have to enact the evacuation soon. Second Carthage should be easy to pull off if we're ready."
Heero forced himself to stand on his own while still holding his injured arm commenting, "I hoped we wouldn't have to endure this in the first place." He gathered his leadership when he ordered, "Get our other carriers ready to fly. We need to prepare for a two day flight."
One of the soldiers questioned the order, "You think we'll be clear for this sir?"
Heero didn't bother with disciplinary action at this time when he answered, "Brussels has officially become too much of a hotbed for our forces. The Parliament is going to be ready for an evacuation anyway. Get the remainder of the supplies and equipment ready."
The remaining questions were answered for the men when they agreed, "Yes sir."
Heero saw the carriers loaded while observing what remained of the city. When he turned to the city again he saw the three things he had secretly attempted to keep safe this whole time. "Relena?" His duty was to the Earth Sphere, but the fight was still nothing without his wife or his daughters Helena and Selena.
Relena ran up to him when she asked, "Heero. Is it true the evacuation is about to take place?"
Heero confirmed her concern, "We don't have the numbers to maintain the city for much longer. Quebec City will be our only choice then. It should be safer there at least."
Helena broke into their conversation when she warned, "Dad you have to let mom on. You know she won't leave until you agree."
Heero turned to her when he answered, "I've known her long enough to confirm that sweetie. Just don't let any of the others bother you while you're up there."
Selena dashed away any concern when she added, "She's got nothing to worry about dad. We just want to make sure you don't end up being trapped again. Or at least you won't be without us."
"Things I do for my kids." Heero said shaking his head. "Wait for the official announcement from the General. We'll move out once we hear from him."

Edward heard Till's request and had an initial feeling of accusation he had to suppress. He still managed to control himself when he agreed, "Yes of course." He followed his new superior up to the rooftop while following close behind. 
Upon the rooftop he had a decent view of the battle while seeing what missiles continued to make their way into the city. One hit particularly close to the Parliamentary Building and it caused him to flinch from the sudden explosion. "Hn... Damn. I certainly hope this is part of a greater strategy. Pretty soon there may be nothing left of this city." He said commenting on the destruction around them.

|

Oleg was in equal impressment with McNeil’s work when he considered the technical areas of the new Gundam he had to work with. “I’ll certainly never call you a minor part of this war McNeil. I’ll make sure this thing is able to deal enough damage to the enemy while we’re up there.”
As soon as he made this promise he heard Kazantsev announce to the base, “Attention all forces. The shuttle bound for rendezvous with Admiral Miles is prepared to launch in thirty minutes. Prepare all final preparations before launch.”
Oleg prepared himself for the next launch commenting, “Destiny is calling us right now. Let’s hope it manages to answer the Captain’s prayer.” He turned to see another six pilots waiting next to the hangar door entryway before asking, “So you guys are hoping to add something to the Coalition’s final mission?”
One of the pilots stepped forward when she confirmed, “We’re adding as many of our best pilots as we have sir. Some of us still want an Earth to return home to while some of us want the colonies to be an ideal living place again.”
“Don’t we all?” Oleg agreed. He corrected her when he pointed out, “By the way I’m a private like any of you guys.”
The pilot took back her comment when she added, “Uh right. From everything we’ve been through though it just seemed kind of a reflex is all.”
Oleg didn’t show any signs of aggression when he just brushed it off, “We’ll have a better idea of who to promote after all of this is done. Let’s get our stuff loaded, it’s going to be a long journey.” Various comments of confirmation rang through the pilots when they moved to see the supply carts load to the shuttle outside.