Chapter 239: Barbatos Gundam I
"Yeah, that's right," Biscuit said with a grin—and pressed the signal flare remote in his hand.
In an instant, five flares shot up from the mobile workers of First Squad.
Gjallarhorn forces immediately noticed their movement and began to encircle them from the flank. As a result, the pressure on Third Squad's defensive line was greatly reduced.
Eugene stared at the flares in confusion. "What's that? What's going on? Signal flares? From First Squad?"
Orga smiled faintly. "Yeah. Looks like they've volunteered to act as decoys for us."
Eugene's eyes lit up as he saw the Gjallarhorn troops start to reposition. "Oh, they're moving—all heading that way! Gotta hand it to First Squad, they're real heroes."
"Yeah. We can't waste their sacrifice," Orga said with a sharp grin. "Third Squad, reform the line while you can. Pull the wounded to the rear!"
As dawn began to break, several loud explosions suddenly shattered the brief calm of the battlefield.
The young fighters of Third Squad looked out to see several Gjallarhorn mobile workers blown to pieces by the mines they had planted earlier.
The minefield had bought them some time, and the Third Squad boys cheered in relief.
But before long, another explosion rang out.
Maruba's transport truck, in his frantic escape, happened to drive over a buried mine. The blast instantly turned him into ashes—gone without a trace.
No one on the battlefield noticed. Only at Gjallarhorn's observation post high above Mars did Todo, watching through the monitor, smirk to himself.
Just as Orga was about to rally his men for a counterattack, several powerful artillery shells struck their defensive line. The ground shook violently, clouds of dust billowing into the air.
Then three Grazes—each wielding a battle axe—charged forward. Orlis himself had entered the fray, joined by Crank and Ein.
The boys of Third Squad froze in panic. They didn't know what to do.
After all, their mobile workers—mere "moving coffins"—stood no chance against MS units powered by Ahab reactors. Their machine guns and cannons couldn't even scratch a Graze's armor.
Gritting his teeth, Orga could only press on, directing the Third Squad's mobile workers to hold their ground and buy time for Nadi to finish repairing the Barbatos Gundam.
He also gave Mikazuki an order to head to the power room and stand by there—ready to sortie in Barbatos the moment it was restored, to face the three Grazes head-on.
On the front line, First Squad's mobile workers were being slaughtered by Orlis's Graze.
Those too close were cleaved cleanly in two by his battle axe. The unlucky ones were simply crushed underfoot.
The few who tried to back away were instantly gunned down by his assault rifle—one shot, one kill.
Crank and Ein stood by, watching in silence. They despised such one-sided slaughter, but without an order from Orlis, they could only stand aside.
Orlis cackled maniacally over the comms. "Ha-ha-ha! Crushing these insects is just like stomping cockroaches—too easy!"
Watching the scene unfold, Ein frowned and turned to Crank. "Lieutenant Crank, the captain… this is—"
A veteran soldier, Crank knew that disobeying a superior officer on the battlefield could mean a court-martial at best—or a bullet to the head at worst.
He closed his eyes, cutting Ein off with a weary sigh. "Forget it."
"But if we went in now, we could end this faster—and save our men from dying for nothing!" Ein protested.
Crank didn't answer. He clenched his arm tightly, forcing himself to stay calm.
Orlis was their commanding officer, and this was simply how Gjallarhorn operated. There was nothing he could say.
Meanwhile, Mikazuki's mobile worker reached the power room.
"Old man, I'm here," he said curtly. "Is everything ready?"
Kudelia's eyes widened at the sight of his bare torso, muscles slick with sweat. "Mikazuki, what happened to you? What's the situation outside?"
But he ignored her questions, walking straight to the massive machine fixed against the wall. "What's this thing for?" he asked Nadi.
"That? Maruba found it in the Martian desert—a relic from the Calamity War era. He hid it, planning to sell it later. Never found a buyer, though.
So after some repairs, he repurposed it as CGS's power source.
The thing didn't even have a cockpit, and there were no manuals for the control system.
So to make it usable, I've been adapting other equipment for it," Nadi explained while dismantling Mikazuki's mobile worker cockpit.
Mikazuki watched him work. "You're using the mobile worker's control system as the interface?"
"Yeah, exactly. That way it'll be easier for you to pilot." Nadi handed him a component. "Here—at least take a look before I install it."
Mikazuki smiled faintly and pushed it back toward him without a word.
Nadi chuckled at his reaction. "Heh… figures. Actually, what I really need is the Alaya-Vijnana interface portion of the system.
Back in the Calamity War, most MS units ran on that system too."
Kudelia, unable to hold back, stepped forward. "The Alaya-Vijnana system? Isn't that the one that can only be implanted into children during their growth phase—using special nanomachines?
It's supposed to be extremely dangerous and cruel! It's inhumane to use that on kids—"
Nadi cut her off bluntly, not even looking her way. "Through those nanomachines, a sort of pseudo-spatial cognition organ forms inside the human brain.
That allows the pilot to directly receive and process data from the outside world—in this case, the MS's systems."
The explanation made Mikazuki's head spin. He waved his hand impatiently. "Enough, old man. I don't need the details. I just need to know how to make it move."
Nadi sighed. "Fine, fine. Put simply—without that thing, there's no way someone like you, who never studied a day in his life, could even operate this machine.
But listen, Mikazuki—the feedback from an MS isn't like a mobile worker's.
If you mess up even once, your neural system could be fried. You could end up paralyzed for life—or dead."