Despite Carter and Munch's objections that they were outdated technology, the Gelgoog's weapons-fire wasn't listening, and it struck home on the targets shot at. The bullets, rockets and beams didn't seem to care how outdated they were or not, and the damage they caused was unfortunately very up to date as infrastructure and ships took hits.
Fortunately, the Anthem mobile suit team were more-than up to the task of fighting back, and that's where their edge in technology counted. The Gelgoog pilots were good, not at all amateurs, and despite the age of their mobile suits they were wringing the best out of them and piloting them as competitively as possible - a good pilot in an old suit wasn't one to be taken lightly, and the Sleeves and their allies in the Zeon remnants had proved that short years ago. Plus it was a point; if they'd survive as long as they had, they had to be good in the first place.
Nonetheless, matched up against suits that were a grab-bag of advanced technologies, they were in for a struggle.
Carter's missile attack did the job of breaking up the formation of green-and-grey enemy machines. They - wisely - split up at the barrage of incoming missiles, but the assault was enough to wing one and outright kill a second, the Zeon-built suit exploding into a sphere of short-lived flame and trailing debris. The one winged lost a right arm, spinning in AMBAC motions to regain orientation and counter the impact - which made it a target for the mounted gun on the Re-Gz. It exploded in a violent, albeit short-lived, fireball, limbs spiralling off on their own trajectories.
Meanwhile, as the rest had scattered, they had been engaged by the rest of the unit. One singled in toward Putnam and his Jesta, opening fire as it powered toward him. The shots fired missed, but the counter-fire of missiles caught the Zeon pilot off guard. They spiralled to avoid the incoming fire, one missile catching the Gelgoog Marine's beam rifle and destroying it in a purplish explosion. The green-and-grey adversary managed to shoot down the second missile with a burst of fire from forearm machine-guns, somersaulting past the projectile as they did so, and then boosting into close range combat with a beam saber drawn, and knuckle-shield over the left forearm. It swung the saber in a vicious slice as it closed in range with the dark-coloured mobile suit, mono-eye glowing a threatening red.
Munch and his Dijeh had intercepted the most forward-running of the Gelgoogs. As his opponent fell back to avoid the melee, the Dijeh's vulcan blast played across the mobile suits' neck and lower head. The hose-like cables at the base of the Gelgoog's head were torn apart, and the mono-eye visor shattered, the special-operations mobile suit flipping end over end as the pilot tried to get a better picture of their surroundings from what little back-up sensors the Zeon suit had, leaving it vulnerable and open to attack.
Callie had not sat idle either. As soon as she'd given the attack order, she'd joined her team-mates in the charge. The S-Gundam's mighty thrusters blasting it toward the closing enemy suits. As they'd scattered to evade Carter's missile barrage, she had unlimbered the S-Gundam's beam smart-gun. As her fellow pilots closed in or opened fire respectively, she identified her own target, zeroing in through visual sensors and the radome mounted on the gun and let rip with a blast, even as the Gelgoog Marine she'd targeted unleashed a barrage of machine-gun fire toward her. Flipping and spiralling aside, she dodged or evaded the majority of the burst, as her own attack tore the Gelgoogs' left arm from its' torso, leaving molten alloy in its' wake. The pilot was a bold and brave, as well as skilled one, changing course with a series of impressive boosted manoeuvers to make his course random. He attempted to weave and bob, unleashing another blast at Callie from the machine gun from a relative upside down position, which she countered by taking some of the hits before flaring backward in space, and using the backpack-mounted beam cannons to blast the unfortunate Gelgoog to pieces.
The surviving Gelgoog had managed to get closer to the docking bay entrance, using cover from the destroyed ships and darting and lurking among civilian shipping as shields. The Ceres defensive GM-II's opened fire as it darted in, but were picked off with precise, rapid beam rifle fire, and the Gelgoog raced into the bay.
The S-Gundam turned to follow, and Callie's radio came to life with a laser transmission in the same instant.
"Captain Suthorn, the Ceres defensive militia are calling for reinforcements. The habitat inside the asteroid has been engulfed in fighting as well. This attack looks like it was a feint to draw attention and create chaos, while the real target slipped away. Nonetheless, there's fighting inside the asteroid as well, with more former Zeon mobile suits that had been hidden or smuggled aboard. You and your team are requested to enter the habitat and destroy them"
"Roger, will engage as ordered, sir".
Cursing softly, she turned her attention to the rest of her unit, engaged in battle or on the field. Youngster and Titch were still engaged, Mad Dog was doing just fine (not that she'd expected any less), and she hadn't heard from Hepner since they launched.
"Mad Dog," she called over the radio, getting a good contact with the Re-Gz Custom, "No surprise you're doing fine; good shooting. Looks like there's more trouble inside Ceres. Let's support Youngster and Titch, and then sweep into the habitat to assist, over!"