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Ginn burst out of the explosion, its armor showing signs of shattering, and Creuset's mask in the cockpit was askew.
"Bastard!"
He was almost driven insane with anger, completely failing to anticipate that Mikazuki would once again set the cannonball to explode on contact. But he was wrong; Mikazuki had directly set it to manual detonation, only activating the explosion when he saw Ginn hit the cannonball.
So, unfortunately, Creuset once again jumped to conclusions. He had the computer search for the scattered cannonballs, but only found two. Mikazuki, however, had fired four unexploded cannonballs. Including the one Creuset just exploded and the two he found, there was still one left.
Creuset used live ammunition to detonate the two found shells. Barbatos took the opportunity to close in on Ginn, slashing off Ginn's right arm that held the grenade launcher. Creuset, retreating in a hurry, unknowingly or intentionally, got closer to that last cannonball, either forced by Mikazuki or retreating unconsciously.
Mikazuki's mouth moved. "Checkmateā¦"
Boom.
Creuset, with his mobile suit's arms severely damaged as his only remaining asset, fled without hesitation. Although Mikazuki wanted to finish him off, he understood that he couldn't leave the current battle. As for the fleeing Creuset, the face behind his mask was incredibly sour. He slammed his fist onto the screen.
"What an utter disgraceā¦"
"Mikazuki, fall back quickly, the fleet is in danger!" Orga warned.
Mikazuki, engrossed in dealing with Ginn, hadn't noticed the vanguard fleet. One of the battleships in the fleet had already been destroyed. He narrowed his eyes and connected to the Archangel's communications. "Can't hold them off any longer. Retreat quickly."
On the Archangel's bridge, Murrue was startled by Mikazuki's communication. Flay, who had arrived at some point, became anxious upon hearing this. "No! My dad is still there! You and Kira both promised you'd save my dad!"
"Tch." Mikazuki had just remembered that. He had only said he'd try his best. But now, Mu was busy with a Ginn and couldn't get away. After Creuset retreated, two more Ginns reinforced the enemy and entangled him. Although he could deal with them quickly, the muzzle of the Vesalius was aimed at the vanguard fleet's flagship.
"Which ship is your dad's?" "Uhā¦ I don't know." Flay's voice was a bit weak; she really didn't know. She only knew her father was in the vanguard fleet, but not on which ship.
At this moment, Natarle in the CIC combat command center spoke up. "George Allster is the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for the Atlantic Federation. He should be on the Montgomery, the flagship."
"The flagshipā¦" Mikazuki saw the black battleship in the middle of the vanguard fleet that was different from the others.
"That green and black one?" "Yes, what are you going to do?" "Open the deck."
With that, he cut off communication. Mikazuki glanced at the remaining thruster fuel; a little over half was left. "It should be enoughā¦" Orga seemed to guess Mikazuki's thoughts.
"You're not thinking ofā¦ cutting open the battleship's bridge, are you?" "That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"This is a gamble. If the bridge is separated, there's an eighty percent chance it will explode. The probability of safely detaching it is very low. Do you really want to do this? If we fail, our position on the Archangel will completely changeā¦" Mikazuki aimed his grenade launcher, destroying a Ginn that was darting around him, and replied, "Although it's troublesome, there's no other way now, is there?"
"That's true, but you have to be careful with your attack."
"There has to be an opportunityā¦ careful." Mikazuki said, then threw the boomerang on his right shoulder at the persistently entangled Ginn. Barbatos spun around and charged towards the Montgomery.
Mu's Zero-Type was hit, so he couldn't continue fighting and had to return to base. The Ginn that had been fighting Mu was now carrying a huge rocket launcher and aiming at the side of the Montgomery.
Montgomery Bridge.
"Captain, an MS has been detected on the left flank! It's going to hit! The defensive cannons won't make it in time!"
"Damn it!"
Captain Cope Man's face changed drastically. George Allster, Flay's father, standing beside him, also looked unwilling. Everyone knew that if this shot hit, they would be dead for sure. The communicator said urgently, "Heat source detected in the airspace directly above this ship, rapidly descending!"
"Another one?" Cope Man closed his eyes, awaiting death. However, after waiting for almost half a minute, there was no sensation of burning or being crushed by a heavy object. In his darkened eyes, he seemed to perceive the light of an explosion. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a mobile suit floating on the left side of the battleship.
"This mobile suit isā¦" George, beside him, excitedly shook his shoulder. "Cope Man, it's himā¦ he saved us. He's an ally!"
"Saved usā¦" The communicator spoke again. "Communication channel invaded. Signal source isā¦ that mobile suit."
"Can you hear me?" Everyone on the bridge was startled. They seemed to hear a very young voice, but Cope Man quickly recovered. This was not the time to be concerned about that.
"I am the captain of this shipā¦" Mikazuki drew his katana. He simply measured the distance. It was about right.
"I don't care who you are. Time is of the essence, so I'll be direct: I'm going to separate the bridge you're on from the main body of the ship."
Everyone's faces changed drastically. Cope Man even stood up directly. "What did you say? Separate?"
"Separate the bridge? Are you crazy? Just say you want to kill us!" George roared.
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