In the two hours that Oracle Squad spent floating in space, the distance between the two fleets had closed considerably. At 1325 hours, they were less than 5,000 kilometers away from one another. I liked this state of affairs, since it meant that I would be able to return to the Zeon fleet much more easily.
In addition, the close proximity of the two fleets meant that the Federation fleet's attention would be drawn away from its flanks. At that very moment, more than a thousand Zakus surrounded the Federation fleet, and they were ready to descend upon the unsuspecting warships.
While we floated in space, I received a few updates from Captain Singh. There was another fleet about 10,000 kilometers to the port side of the Federation fleet. This other fleet wasn't spotted until the 1st Combined Fleet of Zeon had already committed to its approach of the first Federation fleet. With this in mind, the Zeon high command decided to designate the first Federation fleet as Hawkins Fleet and the second enemy fleet as Cohen Fleet after receiving reports that the fleets were commanded by General Marnery Hawkins and Admiral John Cowen.
To the "south" of the battlefield, the moon rose in the distance. Beyond it was the homeland of Zeon, Side 3. If the Federation fleet was able to break through here, they would have a straight shot at the vulnerable Island-3 type cylinders that housed the population of Zeon.
To the "north" of the battlefield, the Earth, cracked and damaged by the colony drop, loomed large. The same concept applied to forces of Zeon as well. If we broke through there, nothing would be left to stop the ground invasion of Earth.
Even from the perspective of a pilot who had spent the first two hours of the battle sitting on his ass in space, I could tell that the whole war pivoted on this single moment. If there was any chance for Zeon to win the war, they would need to win this battle.
I wasn't concerned, of course. Zeon easily won the Battle of Loum in the original timeline, and we would win this time as well. It was going to be an absolute cakewalk. Right?
As I decelerated away from Hawkins Fleet, my hands became clammy. What if I had changed the timeline enough to make the Federation win the Battle of Loum? It shouldn't have been possible, but I had no idea what kind of knock-on effects my actions would have. If a butterfly flapping its wings was enough to cause a hurricane in another continent, no one could predict the extent of the changes I had made to this timeline.
Why was I having those thoughts at that moment? Hawkins Fleet was in my sight, and it was the exact worst moment for my confidence to be shaken. Either way, time continued ticking forward.
It was 1327 hours. Three minutes until the mobile suits would launch their ambush.
Flipping my comms to the squad channel, I asked, "Are you guys ready to fire?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, sir!"
I quickly cut communication with the squad and sent a call back to the QCX-76A Jormungand. After a few seconds, Ensign Hemme appeared on my HUD. He said, "We are ready to fire, Lt. Commander Dogwood! Just point us at a target, and we'll do the rest."
"Perfect," I muttered as I watched Hawkins Fleet float through space, completely unaware of the predators lying in wait around them. I adjusted my Zaku's vision to 10x magnification and started scanning the fleet carefully. There were dozens of Magellan-class battleships moving with Hawkins Fleet, and none of them stood out to me. They were all painted blue, and they all looked exactly the same.
With a few motions, I connected Vultee and Ramos to my ongoing call with Hemme. After a few seconds of unhelpful searching, I said, "Guys, spread out and scan the enemy fleet for the Ananke. That should be the flagship."
"The Ananke?" Vultee asked. "General Revil is here?"
"No, he's dead. Remember?" Ramos said.
"Focus," I said harshly over comms. "We only have ninety seconds before Kellerne sends the attack order."
"Got it," Vultee said before suddenly exclaiming in surprise. "Oh! I just remembered something! The Ananke is the only Magellan-class battleship designed to be used in low Earth orbit. It should be the only battleship with wings!"
"Great catch, Vultee!" I said as I frantically scanned Hawkins Fleet once more. After searching for a few seconds, I found it. Only one of the several dozen battleships had wings sprouting out of its side.
"There it is!" I shouted. "Ensign Hemme, target that…"
My attention was diverted as bright flashes began emanating from Hawkins Fleet. Damn! The attack had already begun. My eyes shot over to the mission clock in my HUD, and it was 1329 hours. Somebody must have been too quick on the trigger.
The flashes of light multiplied as a barrage of nuclear warheads struck Hawkins Fleet. The other Zaku squads must have assumed that this was the sign to begin the attack.
"What do we do, Commander?" Vultee asked.
"Don't fire yet!" I shouted into comms. "Vultee! Ramos! Just keep your cameras locked on the Ananke! Ensign Hemme! Target the enemy flagship!"
"Yes, sir!" Ensign Hemme shouted with a noticeable smile on his face. After about fifteen seconds, he spoke once more. "Target's location, vector, and velocity have been logged! Ready to fire!"
"Fire!" I shouted.
Ensign Hemme's picture was completely blocked out by a bright flash of light. For a moment, I was terrified that the Jormungand had exploded for some unknown reason. After half a second, the bright light disappeared, and Hemme's face reappeared once more.
"Shot complete," Hemme said.
I blinked. Nothing happened. Just as I began looking around, thinking that something had gone wrong in the Jormungand's targeting system, a glittering beam of light crashed into the Ananke with such force that the image of the battleship being torn apart was momentarily seared into my Zaku's camera. In an instant, the Ananke was torn completely in half, leaving behind nothing more than two massive globs of melted metal floating through space.
Pulled out of place by the shot's massive magnetic field, two Salamis-class cruisers crashed into one another and began floating out of its formation.
"When can you fire next?" I asked Hemme.
"We'll be ready to fire again in ten minutes," Ensign Hemme said quietly, though it was clear that his focus was on the video feed being beamed from my Zaku.
"Thanks," I said shortly before cutting the call with the Jormungand. Turning my attention back to Vultee and Ramos, I said, "Now we attack."