"Damn it… they just come wave after wave, endlessly…"
Under the continuous bombardment of missiles, in Orb's already-thin defensive line, Mayura kept pressing the trigger, gritting her teeth.
As part of the most skilled group of Orb's pilots, Mayura's team was also among the ones most familiar with the performance of the M1 Astray. But the problem was that the M1 Astray had only been in service for a short time, and many pilots were rushed into battle after only learning the basics.
Compared to the Earth Alliance's fully organized and extensively trained MS units, Orb's resistance looked powerless.
What's more…
Several Daggers marked with the letters "SB" on their shoulders landed on Orb's soil, performing a quick roll to evade Aisha's shots—Asagi being another test-type pilot.
"What are those machines with the SB marking!!"
Mayura held the trigger tightly, sweeping her M1 Astray's beam rifle at the agile Daggers.
As Orb's defensive line was pushed back under the Earth Alliance's fierce assault, several drill-like particle beams shot from the sky to the ground, piercing straight through those agile Daggers and blowing them apart into scattered debris.
Twelve missiles exploded in mid-air. The forged fragments inside accelerated outward, forming a deadly rain of blades that easily pierced through the downgraded armor of the mass-produced Daggers. Numerous Dagger battery packs were severely damaged and instantly detonated.
The gray-white Narrative Gundam turned in mid-air, landing swiftly and smoothly, its feet carving two marks across the ground.
Roz slid his left hand across the nearby touch panel. The wired remote funnel units on the Narrative Gundam's backpack switched to a different firing mode, and like a pair of machine guns, they rained rapid fire across every Dagger in Roz's path.
"Zzzt—M1 Astray units, temporarily fall back and reform your defensive line!"
Perhaps due to electromagnetic interference, Roz's voice over the comm sounded somewhat distorted.
"I'll hold the line for now."
"U-understood!"
Glancing at the Orb troops gathering their units and reorganizing their defense, Roz narrowed his eyes.
Then, instinctively, he raised his beam rifle and fired at a Dagger that had just poked its body out from behind a ruined building, preparing to counterattack.
Although that Dagger pilot's skills were probably average, he must have been a veteran.
Because he maneuvered the machine to find temporary cover to avoid Roz's shots, and he even raised his shield to protect the cockpit by reflex.
But the drill-like beam tore through the Dagger's shield with ease. Immediately after, the Narrative Gundam's wired funnel guns swept in, riddling the Dagger with holes.
From the moment he showed himself to the moment he was destroyed—less than three seconds.
"Defensive line re-established. Narrative, please move to support the other fronts!"
Just as Roz was internally sighing at the difference in piloting skill between the two sides, Orb's defensive line had already been restored. Beams shot past the Narrative Gundam and struck the Daggers that had just landed.
Roz could even see multiple beams from different angles all striking the same Dagger at once, blasting it apart with excessive firepower.
"Tch… don't focus your fire! There are too many enemies. Each unit is responsible for its own sector!"
Roz clicked his tongue, stepped on the pedal beneath his feet, and the Narrative Gundam's high-mobility backpack erupted with thick flame, propelling him high into the sky.
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On the roads near the mass accelerator Kaguya, aside from a few ambulances racing down the emergency lane, all other roads were completely jammed, and people could only evacuate on foot.
Even here, the sounds of battle and explosions could be heard. Every time a nearby explosion went off, people would instinctively quicken their pace.
Kuzzey, evacuating with his parents, looked up at the beams flying wildly across the sky and the shadows of two familiar machines dancing through the air. His expression was complicated.
Although everyone was rushing toward the mass accelerator as quickly as possible, the movement of the crowd was still slow.
"…Kuzzey?"
Amid the chaotic crowd, a familiar voice reached Kuzzey's ear.
Kuzzey instinctively slowed down and looked around. Then he spotted someone he knew.
"Flay?!"
Flay was standing beside a small car with a bag on her back. Her father, George Allster—whom Kuzzey had met a few times—pulled a backpack onto his shoulders and slammed the car's trunk shut with a loud bang.
"We're leaving these things behind, Flay! Let's go!"
George said as he grabbed Flay by the arm.
"Even though I've resigned from my job, we still have enough money left to live safely! We need to go."
George understood clearly that traffic had completely collapsed at this point. Carrying too much luggage would only slow them down, and worse, it could cost them their lives.
"Dad, it's Kuzzey! My friend from the Archangel!"
Flay pointed at Kuzzey and turned toward George as she spoke.
"You have a friend? All right then."
George followed the direction of Flay's pointing, pulling her through the surging crowd as they approached Kuzzey.
"M-Minister. George Allster!"
Kuzzey instinctively straightened up, looking nervous.
"I'm no longer an Minister. I resigned from that post."
George patted Kuzzey on the shoulder. "Right now, I'm just an ordinary man with a bit of remaining property."
"Don't just stand around—go! Take your parents and head for the mass accelerator!"
Seeing that Kuzzey still hadn't reacted, George became visibly anxious and raised his voice. The volume finally snapped Kuzzey back to awareness.
"You've already been in battle, haven't you? You're not a little kid hiding behind your parents anymore!"
"Act like a man—do what you're supposed to do!"
"Act like a man… what I'm supposed to do…"
Kuzzey seemed awakened by those words, though not completely steady yet, but his pace quickened as he followed behind his parents.
-----------------------------------
When the Narrative Gundam flew into the sky, Freedom's cannons had already been firing continuously for a long time, even to the point of feeling like they were overheating.
"Zzz… Roz, why are you only getting here now? Even a newbie like me has taken down quite a few!"
Mu's voice came through the communication channel.
"Yeah yeah yeah, Mu, you were born to pilot MS."
Roz clearly wasn't in the mood to bicker with Mu, so he just brushed it off.
"Hahaha… I really am a genius!"
Mu piloted the Strike Gundam, making a leap and quickly approaching a Dagger team. Although his technique still looked a bit clumsy, he still successfully sliced three Daggers in half.
Roz only frowned slightly, as if thinking about something else.
The enemy numbers were far too many. Even though Roz had destroyed most of the battleships carrying out long‑range missile bombardment, quite a number of transport ships were still continuously deploying MS onto the battlefield.
With just a rough glance, Roz saw that the units controlled by biological wetware already accounted for about forty percent of the attacking force.
Just as Roz was still considering whether he should restock some anti‑ship weapons and launch another assault on the Earth Forces fleet—
A sharp, electric jolt surged across his mind, causing Roz to instinctively widen his eyes.
"Move!"
Roz shouted over the comm channel. The Narrative Gundam reduced thrust from its main engines, its attitude verniers rapidly adjusting its posture as the machine quickly dropped one level lower.
At the same moment Roz yelled the warning, Kira instinctively stepped on his pedal, and the Freedom Gundam climbed upward.
Three thick beam attacks shot between their two machines, clearly fired by a long‑range support‑type unit.
"A new Earth Forces machine?"
Inside the panoramic cockpit, Roz narrowed his eyes at the two newly‑appeared MS and the markings on the MA. Then Roz stepped on the pedal again, sending the Narrative Gundam flying toward the three machines.
Meanwhile, on the comm channel of those three units, three pilots—who all seemed mentally unstable—were quarreling nonstop.
"That was pathetic. All shots missed."
A green‑colored MS holding a physical scythe and carrying a huge backpack flew close to the ocean's surface. Inside, a long‑haired pilot whose hair covered his left eye sounded extremely disdainful about the previous attack.
"Giving you the Calamity to pilot is a waste, Orga."
"Shut up!"
Standing on top of a black MA, the blue‑purple Calamity Gundam's pilot shouted through the comm, "If they hadn't dodged, we would've taken them out just now!"
"Close your mouth first, Orga."
The pilot of the MA beneath Calamity said, "Shani, that gray incomplete unit that attacked the fleet is coming closer!"
"Hmph… remember what the boss said, Clotho?"
The pilot called Shani let out a cold laugh.
"Of course I remember—capture the mass accelerator and Morgenroete's factory, and while we're at it, tear that scrap heap into eight pieces!"
Excitement filled the MA pilot Clotho's tone.
Likely because of the drugs, these pilots all displayed a bizarre manic energy, like they were suffering from some sort of neurological disorder.
"Then leave that piece of junk to me! I'm gonna use Forbidden's scythe to cut his head off!"
As the leader of the squad, Shani quickly made the decision.
"You pick your own targets!"
"Hey hey hey, Shani, you just want to hog the fun for yourself!"
Though Clotho sounded annoyed, he suddenly became cheerful. "Then that big white guy is ours—me and Raider!"
"Whoever gets the kill first gets it, idiot!"
Before Clotho could answer, Orga pressed the trigger again. Calamity's two shoulder beam cannons and its belly's Scylla Multi-phase Energy Cannon all fired simultaneously at the approaching Narrative Gundam.
"…Too slow!"
The Narrative Gundam completed a rapid lateral roll. During the roll, the wire‑guided remote guns on both shoulders continued to sweep fire.
Then Roz skillfully raised the beam rifle in the Narrative Gundam's hand and fired at the MA beneath Calamity.
"Uwah! Orga, pull back quickly!"
Seeing what happened before him, Clotho made the MA perform a roll, throwing Calamity off.
"Clotho! You bastard!"
Thrown off, the Calamity quickly adjusted its posture, increasing thrust and flying low over the ocean surface.
"Ha! He's an aerial‑combat unit! Go do your proper job in ground assault, Orga!"
Clotho swiftly manipulated the MA, completing a transformation. After raising its shield to block the beam fired by the Narrative Gundam, he swung the flail in his hand toward the Narrative Gundam.
"…A flail?"
Seeing the weapon before him, Roz didn't know why, but for some reason it reminded him of Amuro.
But Roz's movements didn't stall for even a moment. He dodged the incoming flail, then raised the shield in his hand to block Forbidden's scythe.
"Hm… why is it so tough?"
Shani seemed surprised by the hardness of the Narrative Gundam's shield. But then, noticing the two "shoulder cannons" of the Narrative Gundam aiming at him, he immediately widened the distance and brought forward the two large shield‑like components on the sides of the giant backpack behind him, adopting a defensive stance.
The wire‑guided remote guns unleashed their machine‑gun‑like barrage as expected, but the dense beams seemed to collide with something and curved away, deflected.
"It deflected the beams?"
Roz narrowed his eyes, silently analyzing the enemy machine's properties.
"Hmph… I think you'd better leave your life here!"
Inside Forbidden's cockpit, having determined that the opponent relied on beam weapons, Shani sneered.
Shani's voice echoed over the loudspeaker, and at the same time, the Calamity that had been thrown off earlier returned once more, landing onto the back of the Raider, which had transformed into MA form.
"So we're surrounded, Roz…"
The large Haro, silent until now, finally spoke. "They're boasting about killing you."
"…Then let's see who kills who."
Roz exhaled lightly and tightened his grip on the control stick.
Then, stomping hard on the pedal, the Narrative Gundam shot toward the Forbidden—the closest enemy machine.
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