On the day of the Archangel's departure, Mu and I were waiting in the pilots' ready room. Kira had been called up to the deck moments ago, so right about now, he was probably hugging Cagalli, leaving Uzumi and his parents flustered.
"Still, do you really think the enemy is coming?"
Mu asked as he flipped through a gravure magazine—God knows how he got his hands on it when we couldn't even go into town—while still wearing his pilot suit.
"Has the accuracy of my intuition not been proven yet?"
"Well, I can't argue with that... but when you just say 'it's a hunch' without any basis, it's hard to completely buy in... Oh, we're moving."
Feeling the Archangel begin to move, his expression tightened slightly. For all his laid-back attitude, Mu was a top-tier MA pilot. Even without knowledge of the original timeline like me, he could sense the atmosphere of the battlefield.
He already shared a semi-Newtype-like resonance with Creuset. His sensory perception might be sharper than that of an ordinary human.
...Come to think of it, is that resonance similar to what I have with Ryoto, Aya, and Bullet? The ability to sense each other's location does seem comparable.
"...I agree with Axel-san."
Kira, having likely just returned from the deck, entered the ready room and voiced his agreement.
"Kira, you think an attack is coming too? Just a hunch?"
"A hunch... yeah, something like that."
He couldn't exactly say he had met Athrun, the pilot of the Aegis, so he gave a vague, evasive answer.
"Well, if our two ace pilots both say so, I guess there's no helping it. Let's make sure we're ready to launch at a moment's notice."
Led by Mu, we headed toward the MS hangar.
"Hey now, what's gotten into you three? No orders have been issued yet, you know?"
Murdoch looked at us in confusion, but Mu just shrugged.
"Axel and Kira are saying we'll be attacked by ZAFT the moment we leave territorial waters. Leaving Kira aside, you know about Axel's intuition, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess so, but..."
"Look, if nothing happens, then nothing happens. We'll just call it paranoia on our part. Just prep the Blitz and the Guul."
"Argh, seriously! Fine, fine!"
Just as Murdoch shouted his resignation, the alarm blared through the hangar, followed by an announcement.
『All hands to Battle Stations One. Repeat. All hands to Battle Stations One.』
"...You gotta be kidding me."
Murdoch muttered in disbelief at the impeccable timing. Ignoring his stunned expression, we climbed into our respective machines.
As I checked the Blitz's status, I opened a comms channel to Kira and Mu.
"How about this: We use smoke dischargers to lay a screen. Mu, you spot the enemy's position. Relay that data to Kira, and he uses the Agni, powered directly from the ship, to snipe them from cover. I'll sortie on the Guul to sow confusion."
"Hmm... Alright, sounds good. I'll propose it to the Captain. Hold on a sec."
This strategy had given them the advantage in the original story, so it should work fine here. Sure enough, Mu secured permission quickly, a grin visible on his face.
"They adopted Axel's plan. You good with that, kid?"
"Yes!"
Watching Kira reply, I moved the Blitz onto the catapult deck.
"Murdoch, launch the Guul as soon as I'm out."
"You got it."
"Axel-san, visibility will be poorer than usual due to the smoke dischargers, so please be careful. The enemy forces consist of the Aegis, Duel, Buster, and a DINN. ...And also."
Miriallia hesitated during her usual pre-launch check.
"What is it?"
"Um, thank you for stopping Tolle."
"Don't mention it. Axel Almer, Blitz, launching!"
With those words, the Blitz was shot out from the linear catapult. Simultaneously, the Guul launched from the Archangel's port catapult deck. Using the Blitz's wireless control, I successfully landed on top of it.
Breaking through the smoke screen on the Guul, the first things I saw were the Aegis, Duel, and Buster—all riding Guuls just like me—and a single DINN flying under its own power.
"First, a little greeting."
I scattered missiles extravagantly using the Guul's six-tube missile launchers. That said, since the missiles were only effective against the DINN and the Guuls carrying the four Gundams, it really was just a greeting.
Still, they had no intention of taking a missile shower head-on; all units scattered to evade the attack.
"Mu!"
"I'm on it!"
Seizing the opening, the Skygrasper equipped with the Sword Striker pack launched and took position above the Archangel, relaying enemy coordinates to the Strike.
"Axel!"
Hearing Mu's voice, I moved the Guul alongside the Archangel, retreating back into the smoke. Almost the instant I moved, a powerful red beam fired from within the smoke. The Strike's Agni.
Unfortunately, the shot missed as the enemy evaded.
...I suppose firing based on relayed coordinates introduces a slight time lag.
However, now that they knew a strike could come from within the smoke, they would be forced to remain wary of it.
"Kira, the shot missed, but that attack means they can't just focus on me now. Keep it up."
"Understood. Please be careful, Axel-san."
I cut the comms with Kira and piloted the Guul out of the smoke again, heading toward the enemy. The Duel spotted me and charged, firing the railgun and missiles from its Assault Shroud armor while readying a beam saber.
"Accelerate."
Using the Spirit Command [Accelerate], I boosted the Guul's speed to evade the missiles and railgun fire. I blocked the Duel's downward beam saber strike with the Trikeros.
"Blitz! Today is the day I take you down!"
Yzak's voice, the pilot of the Duel, came through the contact circuit.
"Hmph, you never learn, do you?"
"What did you say?!"
By shifting the angle of the Trikeros, I parried the beam saber, then dove the Guul directly beneath the Duel. As I passed, I fired a single Lancer Dart. It pierced the Guul the Duel was riding, causing it to explode from the inside.
The explosion itself did no damage to the Duel thanks to its Phase Shift armor, but losing its foothold was fatal in this environment.
Though the Duel fired its beam rifle wildly at me while going full throttle to kill its momentum before hitting the ocean, I ignored it. I turned my attention to the approaching Buster and DINN... and retreated back into the smoke.
The two machines tried to pursue, but a shot from the Archangel's Gottfried emerged from the smoke, forcing them to break off.
"Time was a little tight there."
I had expected to be able to attack from within the smoke a bit longer, but...
"Axel-san, I'm launching too!"
The Strike, now equipped with the Aile Striker pack, flew out.
"Leave the Aegis to me! Axel-san and Major Flaga, take the rest!"
"Understood. Watch yourself, kid."
"...Guess I have no choice. I'll take the Buster. Mu, you take the DINN."
"You got it."
We each engaged our respective targets.
While dodging the Buster's attacks by banking the Guul left and right, I opened a line to the bridge.
"Bridge, prioritize supporting Kira and Mu. In the worst case, I don't need cover."
"Understood."
Since I had made similar requests before, Natarle on the comm screen agreed immediately.
"Alright then, let's play, Buster."
As the Blitz closed in, the Buster fired a massive volley of missiles from both shoulders. Was it a distraction, or payback for my opening salvo?
Regardless, twelve missiles came hurtling toward me. I wove the Guul through them, shooting down or slicing through the unavoidable warheads with the Trikeros's beam rifle and saber.
Realizing missiles wouldn't stop me, the Buster aimed its signature twin hip-mounted cannons at me.
A railgun and a high-impulse beam rifle... both packed exceptional firepower, true to the name "Buster."
"Accelerate."
But I wasn't kind enough to let him fire those. Using [Accelerate] again, I pushed the Guul to max speed and slipped right into the Buster's guard.
"Hah!"
Passing by the Buster like a phantom slasher, I swung the beam saber in a flash.
The Buster, having already committed its aim toward me, had no way to evade—and lacking a shield, it couldn't block a beam attack. I thought I had him, but in the next instant, he tilted his machine. He used his Guul as a shield to take the saber strike, then kicked the sliced, exploding wreckage toward me.
"Get out of my way!"
Whether by chance or Dearka's remote control, the Buster's Guul slammed toward the Blitz. I fired my beam rifle into it, destroying it completely.
"The Buster... got away, huh."
After the Guul exploded, the Buster was nowhere to be seen. He had likely used the distraction of my attack on his Guul to drop into the ocean and retreat to their submarine.
"That leaves only the Aegis and the DINN... hm?"
I scanned the area for those two—specifically for the Strike and Skygrasper fighting them—and what caught my eye was the Strike and Aegis locked in ground combat on a nearby island. The Aegis had already run out of power; its Phase Shift was down, turning it gray. The Strike was about to bring its beam saber down on it.
Then, the DINN charged in from behind the Strike, firing its machine guns to save the Aegis.
In the next split second, sensing the DINN's attack, the Strike whirled around and thrust its beam saber out. The blade pierced straight through the DINN's cockpit.
Explosion.
The two machines stood frozen, staring at the burning wreckage. ...They must have heard Nicol's death cry in that instant the saber pierced him. The death cry of Nicol, a friend to one and a friend's friend to the other.
The Strike stood dazed for several seconds, only snapping out of it when the Archangel approached and hailed him. He retreated immediately. The Aegis, the only one left standing motionless, became a target for the Archangel's Valiant, but the shot snapped Athrun back to reality, and he retreated as well.
"Bridge, what happened to Mu?"
I watched the scene unfold while contacting the bridge. Miriallia appeared on the monitor.
"Major Flaga took a hit from the DINN and has returned to the Archangel, but fortunately, he seems uninjured. We've confirmed the enemy retreat. Axel-san, please return to the ship."
Status Window
Name: Axel Almer
LV: 36
PP: 115
Stats:
Melee: 254
Shooting: 274
Skill: 264
Defense: 264
Evasion: 294
Accuracy: 314
SP: 446
Ace Bonus: SP Boost (Consumes SP to increase Slime performance)
Growth Type: Versatile / Special
Terrain Ratings:
Air: S
Land: S
Sea: S
Space: S
Spirit Commands:
Accelerate: 4 SP
Gain: 8 SP
Focus: 16 SP
Direct Hit: 30 SP
Zeal: 32 SP
Love: 48 SP
Skills:
EXP Up
SP Boost (SP Up Lv.9 & SP Recover & Concentration)
Telekinesis Lv.10
Attacker
Gunfight Lv.9
In-fight Lv.9
Limit Break (Willpower)
Geass (Gray)
???
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Shot Down Count: 278
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