A bigger stick

" We go to Mars and return the favor, of course." Lorena would answer without missing a heartbeat. There was no way the Federation top brass was going to take this attack sitting. Regardless of the progress made by the battlegroup that had already departed to Mars just last month there would be more ships sent to the red planet. Lorena would make certain the two of them would find a spot on the next ship that was going that way, the decision eventually came down the wire and they would be ready to leave within less than a week.

The ship they were now on board was the Nahal Argama class 'Zaragoza' assigned flagship of this taskforce known as TF-7. This battle group was also composed by eight Clop and Salamis class cruisers along with a larger supply ship flotilla that would keep their fuel, ammo and pantry supply stocked all the way to the Martian airspace.

Both Sawyer and Lorena had been given the privilege to pick their next assigned mobile suits. The Delta Kai would take months to repair so in the meantime all the choices she had were the newest Rezel or a more specialized Gundam type. Eventually she went for one of the S-Gundams which sported a two tone gray and blue Ferris camouflage.

THey weren't the first large unit sent to Mars. Just last month another dozen ships had gone there but had been beaten back when they tried to assault the space fortress of Deimos. And even earlier this lone Ra Cailum class named the Edelweiss had managed to launch a successful raid on Mars surface, disabling their railgun capable to striking targets on Earth. At the cost of all of it's pilots and hundreds of her own crew, Commodore Marina Von Witzland who was the acting Captain of that Ra Cailum made a name for herself. Right now she was among the survivors of the earlier clash at Deimos, had it been up to her they would have bypassed the fortress the same way she had done before but her superior wanted a major strategic victory that had ended in their defeat.

" Just because they're backwater doesn't mean they are ill equipped, we'll have to play this by the book." In the times she'd faced the Martians she'd never seen any older models. All of their Zaku IIIs and Gearas were up to spec and more than capable of killing or matching in performance their own mass produced models.

" Don't get me wrong. We are better trained than them but that doesn't mean they lack competent pilots just that they are rarer, their average grunts are rather ... timid. it's all about fighting to our advantage. That pilot I faced back in the moon was not from Mars, he was a mercenary no doubt a foreigner." When the NITRO system was active she'd been able to peer into the mind of the Nightingale operator albeit briefly.

Mars Zeon pilots were found to be taught to stay as close to their ships as possible to provide extra defense. It was an effective strategy but whenever their warship was damaged and forced to withdraw it left them with little options since they usually over relied on the extended sensor coverage provided by a warship command and control systems.

While continuing to flank the Ship Elise would continue using the weapons systems of the Gamma Azieru to soften it up while the frontline forces were still occupying the mobile suit defences as she was still moving at full speed, well for the proposed full speed of the MA was all she could manage while that happened the defence systems on the nahel-argama class ship had now attempted to defend itself from the flurry of expecting to destroy all of them.

as the RF series Mobile Suits were still busy with fighting the other Feddy MS' they would continue to hold out especially the RF Doms which were actually holding out thanks to the armour they were blessed with and the Gelgoogs began to fight aggressively while managing to hold the line as much as possible.

" Save the fucking back talk." Lorena was not impressed with the lieutenant's sass, finding it grating at best while she tried to get a firing solution on the MA. That long launcher was loaded with normal APHE which was mediocre performing at best but could still go through that I-field. Firing a single shot was not something she could do immediately since the Gamma had begun bombarding the with mega particle fire that threatened to sear the S Gundam limbs.

The Zaragoza's I-fields were working at full power, weathering the storm of mega particle fire and steadily holding. It's AA guns were shelling the Gelgoogs using flak shells but for it's point defense it was relaying entirely on it's MS escort.

The funnels lasers would cause crippling damage to the ship AA defenses, tearing holes that rendered the automatic canons inoperable thus lessening the defensive barrage around it the Zaragoza. The Gamma had gotten very close to comfort, missile launchers now being loaded ad with orders to fire without a lock at the mobile armor.

Lorena's S Gundam had to go defensive all the way, maneuvering out of the path of the ever more accurate mega particle barrage. With each passing salve her Gundam's fuselage began melting away little by little, making it obvious she couldn't stay on the defensive for too long. Thankfully her aiming didn't need to be very precise, soon rolling into a suitable firing stance using the S Gundam's own weight to mitigate the recoil and use it to stay out of the way of any counter attack.

This armor piercing shell was far more specialized than what she'd been used so far, with soe luck it would go straight through the armor anywhere it landed.