"Hey, Tianming—got some good news for you! Our Archangel will maintain its original configuration without any changes!"
Mu, piloting the Wire-guided Cannon Backpack, had just returned to the Archangel when he saw Lu Tianming performing maintenance on the Strike Suit in the hangar. He immediately went over cheerfully to share the update.
"Oh? That's quite good news."
Although Lu Tianming had already known the outcome, he still smiled politely to not dampen the mood.
"Speaking of which... this Wire-guided Cannon Backpack is almost identical to the Moebius Zero."
Lu Tianming's gaze lingered more on the backpack behind Mu. Though he didn't know why this backpack had appeared, after seeing it parked alongside the Moebius Zero, he couldn't help but marvel at the resemblance.
"The handling feels similar too—this is actually my first time seeing an auxiliary backpack that can be piloted independently."
"Exactly... But where did the Earth Alliance get this thing? Before this, only Heliopolis should have had the data for the Strike Suit, right?"
Lu Tianming voiced his doubts, wondering if Mu had been informed about the backpack's origins during his visit to the Eighth Fleet.
"No idea. The relevant personnel all say they can't remember at all, and checking the data reveals nothing about when or where this thing was produced... It's like it appeared out of thin air."
Mu shook his head. Even the Eighth Fleet was clueless about the backpack's origins.
"There's speculation that it was modified from the Moebius Zero's prototype or subsequent test units using Strike Suit data... I think that theory makes sense."
"Although the Strike's development was secret, maybe the data was shared among various parties? Besides, to spread the risk, having the main unit developed at one factory and support units at another is pretty standard practice, right?"
"Basically, aside from adaptability features, the only difference between this thing and the Skygrasper is whether it can transform into a backpack, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Mu gestured toward the two other Skygraspers in the hangar.
The Skygraspers had been delivered earlier by the Eighth Fleet to support the Strike Suit during atmospheric combat, and they also possessed backpack compatibility.
In Mu's view... this thing served essentially the same role as the Wire-guided Cannon Backpack. One delivered backpacks within the atmosphere, while the other functioned as a backpack in space.
Hearing this explanation, Lu Tianming nodded thoughtfully—Mr. Mu's theory seemed quite reasonable.
As for whether this was truly the case or if some unspoken external factors were at play... it remained difficult to verify for now.
"Rather than wondering about its origins, what puzzles me most is why they're giving this to us now... We're about to descend to Earth soon. What use is something that only works in space?"
Mu cast a skeptical glance at the orange Wire-guided Cannon Backpack behind him, his expression full of confusion.
The Moebius Zero was specifically designed for space combat, and its derivative Wire-guided Cannon Backpack shared similar limitations—both would crash upon entering the atmosphere.
If that were the case, why bother shipping it over? The Eighth Fleet might as well keep it for themselves.
Hearing Mu's remark, Lu Tianming seemed to recall something and let out a soft sigh.
"Huh... Looking at it this way, the Eighth Fleet currently gives off a feeling of entrusting their legacy."
Hearing Lu Tianming's words, Mu raised an eyebrow slightly. He initially wanted to ask but quickly understood something:
"Hey, you don't mean—"
Seeing that Mu had mostly grasped the situation, Lu Tianming nodded in confirmation:
"Yes, if I'm not mistaken... Admiral Halberton probably intends to use his own forces as cover to escort our descent—if ZAFT's military pursues us."
"Tch, so ZAFT's forces are really going to chase after us after all?"
Mu said with some frustration. They had let their guard down after rendezvousing with the Eighth Fleet, thinking the enemy would give up.
But upon reflection, if it's Creuset... how could he possibly retreat just because of one fleet?
Given his ambition, he's probably scheming to capture both the Eighth Fleet and the Archangel together.
"They likely will. They have at least four G Series Mobile Suits and two battleships now, so there's no reason for them to retreat."
Athrun's Nazca-class, and the remaining three aboard what's likely a Laurasia-class battleship—that's already their visible combat strength.
With the Archangel unable to fight while descending to Earth, this force should be more than enough to handle the Eighth Fleet.
"Moreover, Creuset probably knows that MS combat is their disadvantage against us. Besides overwhelming us with numbers, he's likely preparing some other methods."
While the original work didn't have similar plot developments, we can't rely entirely on the original now.
The G Series Mobile Suits have suffered enough defeats at the hands of the Strike Suit—even the dumbest opponent should know that simply analyzing data won't be enough to counter the Strike... but there are other things they could target.
Like Mu's Zero, like the Eighth Fleet, like the Archangel.
There were too many possibilities for Lu Tianming to predict what underhanded tactics that guy might employ—but the best approach was to remain adaptable.
After all, he had more than one ace up his sleeve.
"So... that backpack, it's actually meant for our self-defense in case of potential attacks?"
"Most likely."
Lu Tianming nodded, then looked at Mu with a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth:
"...I just don't know if I'm capable enough to handle this thing with my current abilities."
"How about some last-minute training? Would you be willing to guide me again, Mr. Mu?"
Mu immediately nodded in agreement:
"Sure, no time to waste—let's go start up the simulation system right now and show me what you're capable of!"
On one hand, it was last-minute preparation... on the other hand, he was genuinely curious now—just how far had Lu Tianming's spatial awareness ability developed?
————————
"The Eighth Fleet has descended significantly in altitude... So their target is Earth after all."
Aboard the Nazca-class battleship, Creuset and his Captain were examining the data displayed on the bridge screen, looking quite interested.
They had initially thought these people were heading to the lunar base, but it turned out they were descending to Earth... This operation would be much simpler than anticipated.
"According to calculations, given the current trajectory, the projected landing point should be Alaska."
An Adjutant nearby analyzed the data on the screen and added.
"I see. So the Earth Alliance is planning a major operation in Alaska? This is crucial intelligence."
Creuset smiled faintly, then turned to the communications officer beside him:
"Speaking of which, the reinforcements I previously requested from PLANT should already be prepared for deployment, correct?"
"Reporting to Captain Creuset, the reinforcements you requested have been delivered by the Ziegler and Gamov that joined us earlier and have completed maintenance. They are ready to be deployed according to your tactical plans at any time."
After hearing the report, Creuset nodded with satisfaction. He then made a gesture, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he commanded:
"In that case, issue the combat preparation order."
"The brilliant strategist Halberton... What a pity that compared to me, you still fall short."
"Captain Creuset is truly generous... For this battle, he even transferred over models still under development."
Sitting in the Duel, Yzak smiled. The two Laurasia-class ships, each capable of carrying up to six Mobile Suits, were loaded not only with the Duel, Blitz, and three ordinary GINNs, but also three special combat models requested from PLANT.
One Beam Weapon Test Type CGUE and two Long-Range Beam Combat Type GINNs.
These three Mobile Suits shared one common characteristic—they all possessed excellent long-range firepower output capabilities.
This was primarily to adapt to Creuset's tactics.
The first wave would involve the Blitz using stealth infiltration to directly destroy the flagship of the Eighth Fleet. Facing a leaderless Eighth Fleet, the Aegis, Duel, and Blitz would then charge in to further disrupt their formation and guard against the appearance of the Strike Suit.
The second wave of ordinary GINNs would follow, with the main goal of shooting down all the Eighth Fleet's Mobile Armors to prevent them from forming a large-scale offensive—otherwise, if they organized, the GINNs still risked being shot down.
The logic was similar to how in the UC world, Balls could overwhelm Zeon's Mobile Suits through sheer numbers.
The third wave of special combat models would then step in, controlling the distance and ignoring the harassment from Mobile Armors—these would be handled by the ordinary GINNs—while focusing solely on destroying the battleships.
This was the three-step plan Creuset had prepared to swiftly conquer the Eighth Fleet.
"What about the Strike Suit? Even if all four of us go at it together, that guy will probably come up with some new trick, right?"
"It feels impossible to take it down, completely impossible."
Dearka shrugged, lacking confidence—and he couldn't be blamed. They had launched multiple attacks against the Strike Suit, and each time it had pulled out something new. Trying to outmaneuver it now seemed pointless.
"Hmph, Captain Creuset has his own methods. This time, we don't even need to shoot down the Strike Suit. Ideally, we might not even need to engage it at all. We just need to keep it occupied."
Yzak smiled. Captain Creuset naturally wouldn't overlook such details—his chosen strategy was, since they couldn't figure out the Strike Suit, why bother dealing with it?
"I heard the other Laurasia-class ship's Mobile Suit hangar has been fitted with an autonomous propulsion unit and, aside from the Mobile Suits, a special material has been added... They're not planning to use that, are they?"
Dearka pondered for a moment before asking.
The Laurasia-class hangar was actually detachable from the main ship. The separated hangar could serve as a descent pod for Mobile Suits landing on Earth.
Was Captain Creuset planning to make use of that?
"Hmph, Captain Creuset has his considerations. Just standby and relax."
"But speaking of which, stealth assassination is quite risky. Can that coward Nicol really pull it off?"
Dearka was still somewhat worried. Nicol's nature had always been somewhat conservative... even a bit timid.
While a solo assassination wasn't difficult, whether he could escape the ensuing retaliation from the entire fleet was something Dearka was a bit concerned about.
"Though he's usually timid, he's reliable in combat."
Yzak waved his hand, speaking with certainty.
"The Alliance definitely won't be able to organize a counterattack immediately. By the time they think of fighting back, our offensive will already be upon them."
"Besides, with the PS Armor and Mirage Colloid System, if Nicol can't retreat unscathed, it just proves that's all he's capable of."
Yzak snorted lightly. Though his words were harsh, he actually trusted Nicol deep down.
He glanced at the radar. By now, Nicol should have already piloted the Blitz to the target location.
After improvements to battery endurance, the Blitz could now activate the Mirage Colloid and approach the enemy directly from beyond radar detection range.
This attack was almost certain to succeed. Even if the Strike Suit had anti-stealth capabilities, those were only active skills... At this unpredictable moment, what use was the strongest anti-stealth ability?
————————————————-
"Captain, you're back..."
In the Archangel's hangar, Mu weakly climbed down from the Moebius Zero and sighed when he saw Murrue and Badgiruel arrive.
"...Why do you still sound so listless? Did something happen?"
Murrue looked at the unusually dejected Mu with confusion. He had been fine when she left earlier, so why had he become like this upon returning to the Archangel?
"Nothing much, just feeling a bit discouraged."
Mu sighed softly, then smiled as he watched Lu Tianming emerge from the Zero's cockpit after completing the simulation.
"Tianming's growth is simply astonishing... Last time we tested his spatial awareness ability, he wasn't as good as me, but now he's almost surpassed me."
"Huh?"
Both Murrue and Badgiruel were surprised upon hearing this.
Spatial awareness ability was essential for piloting the Zero, and this quality was extremely rare among humans... Even among Coordinators, few seemed capable of mastering this ability easily.
Now... from what Mu was saying, had Lu Tianming actually grasped this ability?
"...I'm still quite inexperienced and have plenty of room for improvement."
Lu Tianming smiled modestly. Compared to a professional like Mu, he could only manage basic operation now... To truly reach combat application level, he needed more practice.
Though with Xia Chuan's cooperation it might be easier... but that wasn't something he could share with them.
Mu looked at him with a helpless expression, about to comment on Lu Tianming's modesty again, but before he could speak, a deafening alarm echoed through the Archangel—the automatic alert triggered when the radar system detected enemies within range.
"What's happening?"
All four people present were momentarily stunned. Murrue and the others had just returned from the Eighth Fleet's flagship—the surrounding space had been completely peaceful then.
Even if ZAFT had launched a surprise attack, the forward battleships of the fleet should have detected the enemy first, then shared the combat situation through internal communications... Not this kind of automatically triggered radar alarm.
"The Blitz Gundam infiltrated the perimeter using the Mirage Colloid System... and shot down Admiral Halberton's flagship!"
"Now... the Blitz has gone back into hiding!"
Miriallia, who was on duty at the bridge, immediately reported the current situation through the broadcast system.
The news struck everyone like a heavy hammer, with Murrue and Badgiruel being the most shocked.
The flagship that was perfectly fine just moments ago... had been shot down by the Blitz in the blink of an eye?
At that moment, Mu and Lu Tianming exchanged glances—sure enough, Creuset had prepared plenty of underhanded tricks for this assault.
They both even had a premonition that since it was deployed at the very beginning... the Blitz's attack was merely one part of these underhanded tactics.
But now, they had no time to dwell on it further; they had to quickly board their respective Mobile Suits and launch.
If the hidden Blitz retreated, that would be one thing... but if it continued its assault, the next target would undoubtedly be the Archangel they were on!