Wang Hu's eyes burned with intensity as he faced Jin, who had just wreaked havoc across the battlefield.
As for why Wang Hu hadn't appeared when his teammates were being slaughtered by the enemy—there was simply no helping it.
Only three or four minutes had passed since initial contact, and already their allied forces had been completely routed by the Coordinator.
Moreover, Wang Hu's notorious reputation throughout the military meant that despite his repeated attempts to coordinate with teammates via comms, not a single person responded.
Not even Li Chengzhi.
It wasn't as if their squad leader had assigned him a wingman, or allowed him to serve as one for others.
How could he expect anyone to abandon their partnered teammates just to follow the suggestions of someone with his infamous reputation?
"A pity. Their bravery was undeniable—this defeat wasn't their fault."
After a moment of silent mourning for his fallen comrades, Wang Hu triggered his autocannon.
From the barrels of the Moebius 40mm machine guns, bullets lashed out like a whip, striking toward the enemy.
Toward that smug ZAFT MS GINN pilot who had shot down so many allies and was now attempting to return to his warship.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of bullets striking the armor of the humanoid weapon resonated directly into the Coordinator pilot's cockpit.
This wasn't the finely simulated audio feedback typical of Coordinator systems—these were the genuine impacts of live ammunition.
"Huh?"
Coordinators were still human, and complacency bred mistakes—a universal truth proven time and again.
The GINN's pilot had let his guard down, and by the time he realized it, his mobile suit had already taken several hits from Wang Hu.
However...
"Stupid, uncultured Natural!"
The Coordinator pilot's lips curled into a sneer.
"You idiot! Don't you know that your pathetic, toothpick-sized guns are worthless?"
"Trying to pierce GINN's armor with those? You're ten thousand years too early!"
His reflexes were sharp. With practiced ease, he executed evasive maneuvers, shaking off Wang Hu's pursuit.
Once clear of danger—whether out of arrogance or some other impulse—the pilot opened a public comm channel.
Not caring whether Wang Hu could hear him, he jeered:
"Pathetic."
Fortunately, Wang Hu also had a habit of monitoring public channels.
"Then why did you dodge?"
Pulling back on the stick, Wang Hu adjusted his flight path while responding.
This was one of the downsides of fighter craft—unlike humanoid mobile weapons that could pivot instantly, fighters required time and space to turn.
Against other fighters, this limitation was manageable since both sides operated under the same constraints.
But against a mobile suit like GINN?
That weakness became a glaring vulnerability.
"Ha ha ha!"
The Coordinator in the GINN laughed uproariously as he watched Wang Hu struggle with the turn.
"Stupid! So stupid! Truly, you Naturals are hopeless."
"No matter how many times I see it, I never get tired of this spectacle!"
Once again, he recalled the lessons from ZAFT's accelerated training program and the experience he'd gained in countless battles.
Under normal circumstances, as long as he wasn't being focused by the Union's Moebius squadrons, the armor of the MS GINN he piloted could easily withstand the cannons of those small enemy fighters.
And those small enemy fighters?
He glanced at the MMI-M8A3 76mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun in GINN's hands.
The Coordinator pilot had every reason to be arrogant when faced with the weapon in his grasp.
Forget about the Union's Moebius fighters lacking any decent armor to speak of.
Even if the Union's high-ranking officials went through the trouble of adding armor to the Moebius fighters!
It would still be useless!
"Die already! Blame your parents for not making you a Coordinator!"
The crosshairs of the optical scope aligned with Wang Hu's mobile suit as the Coordinator pilot spoke, then pulled the trigger of his machine gun.
"That's truly regrettable, but I don't see anything wrong with naturally evolved humans."
"Humans should maintain at least a minimum reverence for life."
Without even turning his head, as if sensing it instinctively, Wang Hu replied to the Coordinator behind him while swiftly canceling his turn and straightening his mobile suit's posture.
Then he executed a DBARREL—the atmospheric fighter combat maneuver known as the Defensive Barrel Roll!
"How is this possible?"
The bullets fired from MS GINN's machine gun missed one after another, leaving the Coordinator in the cockpit utterly stunned.
He knew about the Defensive Barrel Roll from chatting with atmospheric combat comrades during downtime.
He'd heard many accounts of Earth's aerial battles.
This maneuver was frequently used by the Union's air force.
But!
"This is space—a vacuum! Where's the aerodynamic force that lets you pull this off?"
Unable to believe his eyes, he stared fixedly at the Union's Moebius still spinning along an irregular conical path ahead.
The Coordinator pilot could hardly believe this wasn't a dream!
Space was nothing like Earth's sphere with its gravity and atmosphere!
How could anyone thoughtlessly transplant atmospheric fighter tactics into space?
If this were really possible, why hadn't any Union pilots used it in previous battles?
Instead of just accelerating straight, climbing, turning, and getting shot down one after another like turkeys?
"Just because it hasn't been done, doesn't mean it's impossible."
"Victory is created within the realm of what others deem impossible."
"That's what we call a miracle!"
Wang Hu calmly addressed the Coordinator pilot's confusion over the public channel.
Then, Wang Hu straightened his mobile suit, raising the nose higher and higher until it became a stationary, backward-leaning posture in space—tail first, head last.
"What?"
After witnessing Wang Hu's Defensive Barrel Roll, the Coordinator pilot had wisely retracted his machine gun.
Though he refused to admit it aloud, he knew in his heart that trying to shoot down this Natural-piloted Moebius with machine gun fire would be incredibly difficult.
This had nothing to do with the Coordinator's physical superiority—history had long proven.
Before the invention of tracking missiles, winning a one-on-one dogfight, especially against an ace pilot, was extraordinarily hard!
Therefore, he drew the heavy sword from his waist, pinning his hopes on the fact that his MS GINN had far greater acceleration than the Moebius, preparing to charge toward that Natural ace pilot.
To cleave the enemy in two with his sword!
Who would have thought fate would play such a cruel trick—even a Cobra Maneuver was executed by the opponent.
And just like that!
The Coordinator pilot, eyes wide with fury, strained with all his might to look behind him, twisting his head so violently it was truly concerning.
Would he snap his own neck from the motion?
Now! The enemy he had been pursuing had fallen behind him.
All because of the MS GINN's superior acceleration, which prevented him from stopping in time!
Thus, he found himself in such a disadvantageous position, presenting his rear thrusters directly to the enemy's guns!
Wang Hu lowered the raised nose of his machine, resembling a cobra spotting its prey and preparing to strike.
As the ZAFT MS GINN shot past beneath the Moebius's fuselage, the moment of victory was already beckoning to Wang Hu.
"Farewell. In your next life, try being a Natural."
"Actually, Naturals aren't so bad—no need to force it, just let it happen naturally."
Aiming at the MS GINN's exposed rear thrusters right before him, Wang Hu indifferently pulled the trigger on the Moebius's cannons.
(End of Chapter)