Chapter 113: SEED—Another Naval Battle IV
The other Ginns, seeing that their captain alone was enough to suppress the Strike Gundam, once again began attacking the Archangel.
The Ginns' beam rifles and torpedoes continuously struck the underside of the Archangel, and the Vulcan cannons in its automatic defense system were already overwhelmed.
On the Archangel's bridge, Murrue saw those aquatic MS beginning to surround the ship again and had no choice but to issue an early sortie command.
"Archangel, emergency evasive maneuver, tilt 20 degrees! Ensign Tolle, you are authorized to launch!"
Natarle cooperated by shouting attack orders, clearing the way for Tolle's sortie.
"Don't let the Ginns stick to the hull! Missile launchers 7 through 10, linear cannons, target and fire!"
As the Archangel tilted, Tolle, piloting the High-Performance Ginn, was catapulted out of the hangar, igniting the Zero Moebius booster midair.
But immediately after launch, Tolle realized he had been reckless—he shouldn't have gone full throttle on the booster.
With the booster at full output, the High-Performance Ginn was like a wild horse that had broken free, the immense acceleration and centrifugal force crushing against Tolle's body.
Fortunately, he had a nano-body, already enhanced. Otherwise, a normal person's internal organs would have been injured, coughing up blood under such strain.
As time passed, Tolle gradually adapted to the inertia of acceleration, easing back the booster output and quickly looping back toward the underside of the Archangel.
Whenever a Ginn surfaced, Tolle immediately manipulated his High-Performance Ginn to fire the shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.
But every attack missed. As a last resort, Tolle had Nami replace the rocket rounds with neo DG cells.
These infiltrated the water, transforming into small fish and shrimp, scouting for the Ginns' positions.
Now, instead of relying on quick reflexes like whack-a-mole, the radar could predict their positions in advance, and he only needed to follow the predictions to attack.
Based on Nami's predictions, Tolle fired a rocket toward the target point.
Unfortunately, the resistance of the water blunted the attack, causing little real damage—only the shockwave of the explosion flipping the Ginn.
On the second predicted strike, Tolle learned from his earlier mistake, switching to the Assault Shield System's super-high-velocity kinetic penetrator rounds.
This time, he scored a direct hit. One Ginn was pierced by the penetrator and exploded.
By sheer luck, the penetrator achieved a double kill, also damaging another Ginn along the same line, shearing off one of its arms.
Tolle continued this method of attack, and within minutes, two more penetrator rounds each struck and destroyed another pair of Ginns.
After the hits, Tolle noticed the booster's overheat warning—the temperature was near its limit. He had no choice but to return to the Archangel's deck and wait for the booster to cool down.
Meanwhile, the Strike Gundam was still suppressed by the ZnO. The ZnO relentlessly attacked with its grappling claws, mixing in beam cannon fire.
Every time the Strike tried to counterattack, the ZnO would quickly retreat.
And underwater, the Strike Gundam's Sword Striker equipment had only one ranged weapon—the rocket anchor. Even attempting a surprise shot when the enemy drew near was impossible.
Kira had fired it once, then abandoned the attempt. In space or the air, perhaps it could work—but underwater, the rocket anchor's speed was crippled by water resistance.
Still, over time, Kira gradually began to read the enemy's movements and attack patterns.
Yet the ZnO's output in water far exceeded the Strike's, leaving Kira stuck on the defensive.
Mu and Cagalli, on their end, were still advancing toward the predicted position. ZAFT also realized that the two Skygraspers were searching for their fleet.
But Mu and Cagalli struck first, launching two missiles at ZAFT's underwater carrier.
The carrier couldn't even react before one missile hit, flooding compartments and forcing it to surface.
The moment it broke the surface, the ZAFT carrier immediately launched DINNs.
Determined not to give them the chance, Mu fired the Skygrasper's high-energy pulse cannon.
A crimson beam shot from the fighter, piercing one of the carrier's MS launch bays—and then ripping through the carrier itself.
The underwater carrier exploded on the spot, fire and smoke billowing high.
Still, two DINNs managed to launch, and spotting the two Skygraspers, they were filled with burning hatred.
They opened fire at once—missiles, heavy machine guns, and anti-air shotguns in a simultaneous barrage.
Faced with the fierce attack, Mu and Cagalli could only accelerate and retreat toward the Archangel.
The Archangel itself kept tilting left and right, adjusting angles, relying on its Vulcan cannons to fend off the underwater Ginns.
Four Ginns continued their harassment, and the Archangel had no way to counterattack—not even a chance to fight back.
On the deck, Tolle, still waiting for his booster to cool, could only sway along with the Archangel's movements.
On the bridge, Natarle asked the communications officer:
"What is the Strike Gundam doing right now?"
The radar officer reported, "The Strike Gundam is engaging the enemy's underwater MS."
Sai muttered under his breath, "Damn it! If only the Vulcans on the Archangel's top could be angled downward…"
Murrue gave a decisive order: "Listen up. We only need one shot. Have the Archangel execute a spiral roll."
Everyone was stunned by her order, finding it unbelievable.
Murrue continued, "Adjust the main cannon's high-energy positron beam angle. Ensure a direct hit—don't you dare hit the Strike Gundam.
Lieutenant Badgiruel, I'm leaving the firing command to you!"
Natarle immediately replied to Murrue, "Understood, Captain Ramius!"
Murrue turned to the helmsman: "Ensign Arnold Neumann, can you do it?"
(The Archangel's "divine helmsman"—after being a nameless background character for so many chapters, it would be too embarrassing not to finally call him by name.)
Arnold, resigned, answered stiffly, "Aye, Captain. No problem."
At the same time, warning alarms blared throughout the Archangel.
"This ship will now execute a full 360-degree spiral roll. All personnel, prepare for impact.
Repeat, this ship will now execute a full 360-degree spiral roll. All personnel, prepare for impact."
On the deck, Tolle also received the announcement. He grabbed onto the deck and muttered to himself:
"Heh, finally. The legendary god-tier helmsman move—flying a warship like a fighter jet.
Too bad we'll all have to suffer through it together."