"Ah!" The nightmare descended as the approaching Thor's Hammer wrecking ball filled Murrue and the others with despair.
At that moment, Freedom Gundam descended like a divine weapon, delivering a powerful kick with the force of momentum that sent Raider Gundam crashing into the sea.
"Ah—!" Clotho, Raider Gundam's pilot, screamed as the Mobile Suit hit the water, sending up massive waves.
Emerging from the spray behind the waves was a peculiar green figure, its crab-like modified backpack unfolding to reveal its true form.
GTX-X252, one of the second-generation X Series, was primarily light green in color, with its backpack components covering its back. Large, unique shields were mounted on both sides of its body.
Built on the same frame as Blitz Gundam, it was also a specialized Mobile Suit utilizing Mirage Colloid Particles, enhancing its ambush capabilities. The energy packs, thrusters, and large weapon systems were all integrated into the backpack, granting it atmospheric flight capability as well as underwater combat endurance.
For infiltration and surprise attack missions, Forbidden Gundam's backpack could flip upward to cover its head, transforming into a high-speed assault mode, allowing independent flight in this configuration.
In terms of armaments, Forbidden Gundam's chest was equipped with the guided Vulture Plasma Cannon, capable of bending beams at will by utilizing the Mirage Colloid Particle magnetic field generated by its guidance rails. This allowed for curved shots, breaking the limitations of conventional fixed beam cannons with single firing angles.
Its head housed a 75mm anti-air Vulcan Cannon turret system, while its waist was fitted with two 88mm Fangs Railguns. Both arms were equipped with 115mm Arm of Fire machine guns, and its handheld weapon was the Wicked Dragon Heavy Guillotine Scythe. The blade of the Wicked Dragon, forged using the special steel technology from the Graveyard technical satellite, featured a massive curved edge with a wide slashing range, capable of easily severing a warship's bridge.
Additionally, another application of Mirage Colloid Particles in Forbidden Gundam was its Energy Deflection Armor. Beyond effectively resisting projectile weapons, it could also distort and disperse enemy beam attacks, achieving beam defense.
Thus, compared to Blitz Gundam's Mirage Colloid System, Forbidden Gundam's utilization of Mirage Colloid Particles was far more advanced.
Breaking through the sea's surface, Forbidden Gundam fired its Fangs Railguns to force Freedom Gundam back, then leaped onto an Aegis-class warship. With a horizontal sweep of its Wicked Dragon Heavy Guillotine Scythe, it cleanly bisected the warship's bridge before searching for its next target.
Seeing the dire situation, Kira immediately moved to intercept, but Raider Gundam had already recovered from its plunge into the sea and hurled its Thor's Hammer wrecking ball at Freedom Gundam's back.
"Damn it! Eliminate!"
Sensing the incoming threat, Freedom Gundam sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the wrecking ball's sneak attack, but this allowed Forbidden Gundam to widen the distance.
Faced with two formidable enemies, Kira found himself in a dilemma—letting either one go would result in devastating losses for Orb's fleet.
Just then, Gundam Exia streaked past, arriving before Raider Gundam as its two Solid Swords came crashing down.
"Clang—!"
The Raider Gundam hastily raised its shield cannon to block Exia's slash, but Exia's twin swords swirled clockwise in a sweeping motion, instantly leaving the Raider wide open. Exia stomped hard on the Raider's torso, using the recoil to flip back onto its flight unit.
Poor Raider Gundam, poor Clotho—kicked into the sea once again.
"Mr. Seiei!" Kira felt relieved upon seeing Exia. He knew exactly how strong Setsuna was, which meant he no longer had to hesitate. He could focus on pursuing the Forbidden Gundam without worry. But then, Setsuna's communication came through.
"What are you standing around for? Your mission is to secure the defensive line."
"But there are new models—we can't just ignore them," Kira argued.
"Don't worry about it. The other two are being handled."
"Mr. Dylandy and Mr. Erde have sortied too?" Kira was momentarily stunned but quickly understood. The Gundam Exia, Cherudim, and Virtue were inseparable. If one had deployed, the other two were naturally present as well.
With his mind at ease, Kira headed straight for the first defensive line. The Multi-Lock System activated, and his rainbow-colored cannons fired in unison, clearing an entire sector.
...
Freed from the Freedom Gundam's interference, the Forbidden Gundam now hunted its prey without restraint. Just as it was about to bisect a second battleship, an alarm suddenly blared.
"Beep beep beep—"
"What?"
Instinctively, it retreated, aligning its shoulder-mounted energy deflection shields in front of itself. Green beams followed in rapid succession, bending and warping within the distorted field.
"Hah." Shani, the Forbidden's pilot, sneered. The Forbidden's energy deflection shields were invincible—no beam weapon could penetrate them.
But the next moment, electromagnetic rounds slammed into the shields, exploding with tremendous force. The impact forced a pained groan from Shani.
"Ugh—! Physical rounds?"
Before Shani could process this, another volley of beams shot toward him. The Forbidden reactivated its energy deflection armor, twisting the beams' trajectories—only to be hammered by another barrage of electromagnetic fire.
"Damn it! Who the hell is this!?" What infuriated Shani wasn't just the inability to locate the enemy or their constant switching between beams and physical rounds. It was the sheer unpredictability of their sniping. Even when he began evasive maneuvers during the second wave, no matter whether he dodged left, right, up, or down, the enemy's shots always found him.
Furious, Shani abandoned his current target and tried to trace the sniper's trajectory—but he couldn't move. The relentless sniping pinned him in place. The beams forced him to keep his energy deflection shields up, but the defensive posture severely limited his speed. Every time he advanced even slightly, physical rounds blasted him back.
Shani considered approaching underwater, but each time he neared the ocean, electromagnetic fire sealed off his path, forcing the Forbidden back into the air.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Shani spotted an Aegis-class battleship nearby. A plan formed in his mind. Enduring the sniper's suppression, he maneuvered the Forbidden beside the Aegis, using it as cover.
As expected, the sniping stopped. A cruel smile curled Shani's lips. The [Wicked Dragon] scythe descended, cleaving a battleship in two. Amid the explosion's flames and the towering waves, he slipped beneath the surface.
In the distance, the Gundam Cherudim, which had been crouching, stood up while shouldering its multi-purpose sniper cannon and began moving backward.
"Tsk tsk, what a miscalculation. To think they'd be this cunning... but..." The previously frustrated smirk vanished, replaced by a chilling intensity. "...This pisses me off. I will shoot you down!"
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Calamity Gundam, the first to make landfall, was gleefully eliminating any obstacles in its path.
The GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam, one of the second-generation X Series, inherited the concept of the Buster Gundam, excelling in long-range artillery combat. Its back was equipped with a pair of 125mm [Ram Horn] twin high-energy long-range beam cannons. Its right hand wielded a 337mm [Road of the Dead] plasma armor-piercing rocket launcher, while its left hand featured a 115mm [Beetle Type-II] twin ram cannon offense-shield system. Additionally, a 580mm [Scylla] multi-phase energy cannon was mounted centrally on its chest.
In contrast, this mobile suit was poorly suited for close-quarters combat, lacking melee weapons such as beam sabers.
Despite its heavy armament, the unit underwent thorough weight reduction, enabling it to hover via air cushion movement on both land and water. Auxiliary thrusters were added at four points on the waist, two on the shoulders, and two on the legs, ensuring stable mobility.
The pilot, Orga, arrogant and ruthless, mercilessly rained fire upon the first line of defense, instantly tearing a massive gap through its right flank.
"Kehehehe... Ahahahaha—"
"Beep beep beep..." His maniacal laughter was interrupted as Orga snapped back to reality, yanking the control stick to evade what he assumed was a sneak attack from some insignificant pest—only to roast it afterward.
However, what flashed across his screen wasn't a thin beam rifle shot but a torrential surge of thick beam energy.
The Calamity Gundam paid for Orga's carelessness. The retreat wasn't fast enough—the residual energy of the beam surge scorched both the [Road of the Dead] plasma armor-piercing rocket launcher and the [Beetle Type-II] twin ram cannon offense-shield system. Their front ends warped under the intense heat, rendering the [Road of the Dead] unusable and melting the tips of the [Beetle Type-II].
"Damn it! Who the hell—?!" The Calamity Gundam was his prized machine. He'd thought this was just pest control, and he had been enjoying himself. But now, barely into the battle, one of its main weapons was already crippled. Rage surged within him.
Yet the moment the Calamity Gundam turned around, Orga felt a chill run down his spine—the Gundam Virtue, wielding twin beam cannons, was charging straight at him, the beam rapid-fire cannons on its shoulders glowing ominously.
A storm of beams erupted. The Calamity Gundam leaped backward just in time, letting the barrage crater the ground where it had stood moments earlier.
"Die, you bastard!" Still mid-air, the Calamity locked onto the Gundam Virtue and unleashed a full salvo, a dazzling array of projectiles streaking toward its target.
But the Gundam Virtue was an agile heavyweight, gliding smoothly across the terrain via air cushion movement, dodging the Calamity's attacks while countering with its own devastating firepower.
"Damn you!"
Orga was now fully awake, realizing he was up against a tough opponent, but his excitement only grew. It wasn't the thrill of a strong fighter meeting their match—rather, he found it far more satisfying to torment a higher-level prey like cats or dogs than swatting mosquitoes!
"Colonel Erde!"
The surviving Orb Military soldiers watched the fierce battle between Gundam Virtue and the Calamity Gundam with sweat pouring down their faces. They wanted to help, to avenge their fallen comrades, but they helplessly realized they couldn't even intervene in the battle.
"Leave this to me. Withdraw and have Sumeragi redeploy the defenses," Tieria ordered.
"Yes, Major! May the Angels grant you victory!"
(End of Chapter)