"Haha, these MAs and Battleships piloted by Naturals are just like target practice. There's no pressure at all clearing them out!"
"Athrun, if you ask me, why bother deploying your new Mobile Suits for these Battleships? A few of us in GINNs could handle this easily!In the airspace where the Eighth Fleet's vanguard fleet was positioned, three GINNs danced and weaved, nimbly maneuvering through the formation of Battleships and MAs. Each evasive maneuver was accompanied by bursts of sparks—either from a Battleship being hit or an MA falling from the sky.
To Athrun's Coordinator comrades, the machines piloted by these Naturals were practically indistinguishable from moving targets.
The situation was completely one-sided... almost no different from a slaughter.
"Yeah, you're right."
Athrun, who had been waiting on standby to intercept any unexpected changes, sighed softly as he watched them freely charge in and out of the fleet. He didn't know whether to feel proud of his comrades' prowess or sorrowful over the Earth Alliance's instantaneous deaths.
But just as he sighed, an alarm suddenly sounded. He instinctively checked the radar and saw a familiar Mobile Suit identifier appear.
X105-Strike Suit!
"Enemy Mobile Suit approaching! Temporarily regroup and avoid being isolated!"
Athrun issued the command immediately. He understood the Strike Suit's capabilities better than anyone. While charging toward the front lines, he ordered his teammates to gather around him.
"Why be so cautious about a Natural's Mobile Suit? I'll take care of it right away—"
A comrade's dismissive reply came through the comm channel, but it was cut off mid-sentence, replaced by static.
On the display, the Strike Suit, with its Striker Pack at full thrust, charged straight into the battle line. The moment his comrade raised his cannon to fire, the Strike Suit shot through the cockpit.
The loss of one comrade immediately made the remaining two realize that the approaching MS was no ordinary foe. They began regrouping toward Athrun while attempting suppressive fire to hinder the Strike Suit.
"Don't waste time shooting! Retreat toward me at full speed! I'll cover you!"
Athrun urgently reminded them again, but he was still a step too late.
Another GINN was caught slowing down as it turned to shoot. Three consecutive shots severed one of its arms and a leg, disarming it before the pursuing Strike Suit sliced it in half at the waist. Even Athrun's attempts to intercept with covering fire failed to prevent it.
Seeing the Strike Suit lunging like a vengeful ghost toward the last GINN, Athrun gritted his teeth, pushed the thrusters to maximum, endured the intense G-forces, and instantly switched to Mobile Armor mode. He propelled the Aegis forward like a crimson drill, charging straight at the Strike Suit.
"Tch... Still couldn't take out all the GINNs before the Aegis arrived?"
Lu Tianming gritted his teeth as he watched Athrun charging toward him. Seeing the last GINN retreating at full speed and Athrun closing in, he clicked his tongue in frustration.
He had hoped to use the element of surprise and, together with Xia Chuan, take down all three GINNs in one push. If they could maintain a stalemate with the Aegis, the vanguard fleet might still remain safe.
But given the current situation... it seemed impossible.
Still, they had taken down two GINNs... With three Battleships left on the Earth Alliance's side, surely they wouldn't be wiped out by a single GINN, right?
"Captain, the Archangel has sent a communication requesting we retreat toward their position under the cover of our new Mobile Suit!"
Inside the Montgomery, the communications officer suddenly spoke up, reporting the just-received message to the captain.
"...Damn it, they actually came after all?"
The Montgomery's captain showed no excitement at this news, instead pounding his thigh in frustration as if disappointed by their foolishness.
ZAFT was clearly using them as bait to lure out the Archangel... What were they thinking, stupidly coming to assist in this situation!
Though he felt touched by the Archangel's 'sense of loyalty'... loyalty alone couldn't change the realities of war. Their safest option now was to rendezvous with the Eighth Fleet headquarters!
"What? Are we saved?"
From the seat beside the captain, George Allster - Flay's father and undersecretary of the Atlantic Federation - spoke with excitement.
When the escort ships had been shot down earlier, he thought it was all over!
Seeing the undersecretary's cowardly relief, the Montgomery's captain sighed helplessly and said:
"We can't let our guard down yet. The enemy still has one GINN in reserve... But with the cover of three ships and Mobile Armors, we're at least much safer than the vanguard."
"Let's escort the undersecretary to the rescue capsule. Waiting for the Archangel's rescue inside the capsule is much safer than staying on the bridge."
He waved his hand, and two soldiers approached George, indicating they would take him to the rescue capsule.
"Oh, good!"
Seeing a chance for safety, George immediately nodded and followed the soldiers to the ship's rescue capsule.
Meanwhile, Lu Tianming and Athrun were locked in an evenly matched battle... In fact, with Lu Tianming and Xia Chuan coordinating, they even held a slight advantage.
Xia Chuan and Lu Tianming knew well that the Aegis's advantage lay in its mobility in Mobile Armor mode, so from the start they adopted close-quarters combat to prevent the Aegis from creating distance to utilize its strengths.
Xia Chuan's primary control of the Strike made it charge forward like a berserker, with wide, powerful slashes combined with aggressive shield bashes that forced Athrun's Aegis into constant evasion or defense using its twin beam sabers.
Whenever the Aegis attempted surprise attacks with its foot beam blades, Lu Tianming would take control of the Strike to dodge, then switch to his primary control mode. His sword-and-shield combination of parries and blocks effectively neutralized the Aegis's storm of attacks.
And when Athrun noticed the Strike's attacks becoming more conservative and tried to create distance with feints, Xia Chuan would immediately press the assault again.
Their coordinated offense and defense kept Athrun locked in a difficult battle.
"Tch... After not seeing him for a while, this guy's combat style has become even more unpredictable..."
Athrun clicked his tongue in frustration. Previously, the Strike's moves had been tricky enough, but now even its combat approach felt unpredictable, as if it were switching personalities mid-battle.
The problem was Athrun couldn't anticipate when these switches would occur... forcing him to remain constantly vigilant against every potentially changing technique.
Added to his pre-battle hesitation... and the Aegis's energy reserves having been depleted somewhat in the earlier combat, he was gradually finding it difficult to maintain the stalemate.
Just at that moment, Creuset's voice suddenly came through, transmitting into his ear:
"Athrun, evade upward!"
"Tianming, he's slipped away again, quick, let me chase the bastard!"
On the other flank, Xia Chuan simultaneously detected Athrun's sudden maneuver and urgently alerted Lu Tianming, urging him to switch combat rhythms.
But before Lu Tianming could respond, Xia Chuan realized—he had seriously misjudged the situation moments earlier.
Because at this very instant, as the Aegis ascended into the sky, what unfolded before their eyes was the Nazca-class battleship—the Vesalius—executing an all-out Main Cannon Snipe.