The Sassari, the Archangel, and the Orb Command Headquarters all detected a signal at the same time. Simultaneously, a voice that sent chills down the spine echoed through the public frequency.
"Mikazuki... Augus!"
Aboard the Sassari, Orga Itsuka's face paled the moment he saw the signal. When the true form of the signal appeared on the screen, he lost his voice in shock. "How can this be? That guy is... the Graze Ein?"
A pitch-black machine, far larger than a standard MS, was charging across the ocean with staggering speed. Its momentum was so great that it seemed as though nothing could stand in its way.
Cagalli Yula Athha stood up abruptly the moment she saw the mobile suit on the screen. "That's the machine from the Junk Guild footagethe one that fought Mikazuki! Wasn't it destroyed by him? What's going on?"
On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue Ramius furrowed her brows. "It's that black machine. Didn't Mikazuki say he had dealt with it?"
The ones most disturbed by this were Orga and Mikazuki themselves. The machine was clearly the Graze Ein, yet it had been thoroughly torn apart by the Gundam Barbatos until not a single plate of armor remained.
"That guy..." Mikazuki stared at the machine he had personally finished off, his brow tightly knit.
"Mika! He's coming straight for you!"
"I know." As he spoke, Mikazuki maneuvered the Gundam Barbatos, veering away from the Archangel's course and heading toward a small island roughly twenty nautical miles from Orb. "Orga, I'll leave this place to you guys. I'll handle this one."
"...I understand," Orga replied. "But remember, you absolutely cannot go overboard like you did last time."
"Yeah." Mikazuki gave a short acknowledgment. He spared a glance at the Graze Ein, which was pursuing him exactly as expected, and accelerated to lead it away from the main battlefield.
Both he and Orga understood that if this monster joined the fray, the entire battle would descend into absolute chaos.
"Rat! Don't you dare run!"
However, as the Graze Ein and Mikazuki were engaged in their game of cat and mouse, the Raider Gundam suddenly appeared in front of the Graze Ein.
"Where did you pop out from? That guy is my prey..."
"Move!"
Boom!
A cold light flashed, and the Raider Gundam was sliced clean in half at the waist.
Kaboom!
Muruta Azrael's mouth hung open as he stared in horror at the explosion on his screen. "My... My Phantom Pain squad actually..." He began to grow frantic with rage. "What is going on? What is that machine?"
No one on the bridge could answer him, for no one knew the origins of the black suit.
"Eh? Was Clotho taken out?"
"How pathetic. To be killed by a guy like that... he got what he deserved."
The other two members of the Phantom Pain mocked him with glee, showing not a shred of grief for their fallen comrade.
On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue Ramius established a communication link with the Sassari since she couldn't reach Mikazuki. "Mr. Orga, what is with that machine? Didn't Mikazuki eliminate it?"
Orga appeared on the screen with a grim expression. "No, I don't know what's happening either. That machine... was definitely destroyed by Mikazuki. It should have been blown into nothingness. Anyway, leave it to Mikazuki. No one else is a match for that monster. We have to handle our own end here."
"Understood... Port 14, fire the main guns!" Murrue took a worried look at the Gundam Barbatos receding in the distance on her screen, but she quickly pushed the concern aside to focus on the battle. She was the captain of the ship and was responsible for the safety of every crew member on board.
"Stay safe, Mika..."
The Gundam Barbatos continued to distance itself from the battlefield, drawing the Graze Ein along with it. Mikazuki didn't think for a second that this monster was a fool. If the creature realized his intention was to help Orb, it would most likely join the Earth Alliance's assault. He couldn't let that happen. Since the Graze Ein's current target was him, drawing it away was the best choice.
"With Kira and the others there, it should be fine." Mikazuki glanced toward a specific coordinate. A new MS signal had appeared on his radar, one he recognized. "The Justice Gundam Lacus mentioned? Well, I'll leave it to them."
"Rat of Tekkadan! You who killed Lieutenant Crank Zent and another version of me... is running all you can do?"
Mikazuki's brow furrowed. He had gleaned quite a bit of information from the Graze Ein's words. "Another me? Are there many of this guy? Tsk, how troublesome."
Mikazuki muttered to himself, but he didn't dwell on it. The things happening to him had already exceeded the boundaries of human knowledge. He was never one for deep contemplation and refused to waste time on things that didn't interest him.
By the time Mikazuki reached the deserted island, the war had entered a white-hot phase, having raged for over five hours.
Kira's Freedom Gundam was currently pinned down by the Calamity Gundam and the Forbidden Gundam. Meanwhile, Mu La Flaga was on the ground, helping Orb's M1 Astray units fend off the relentless waves of Strike Daggers from the Earth Alliance.
Though Mu had grown both physically and mentally from his training sessions with Mikazuki and the others, he was starting to show signs of fatigue. There was no helping it; even if they were just fodder, there were simply too many enemy machines, not to mention the fighters in the sky.
Fortunately, Dearka Elsman, who had been a prisoner on the Archangel but was released due to the circumstances of the war, was now piloting the Buster Gundam on Orb's side. He had no clear reason for doing so, but he had already helped the Archangel shoot down several approaching planes, missiles, and enemy mobile suits.
As for Kira, a red machine had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to help him deal with the Phantom Pain forces.
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