Chapter 114: SEED – Fated Encounter
On the Archangel's bridge, the radar operator reported, "Two Ginns approaching."
Murrue immediately fastened her safety belt and gave the order.
"All hands prepare! Aim the main cannon—the high-energy beam cannon—at the targets. Let's begin!"
Arnold sighed helplessly, lamenting that Captain Murrue was far too reckless. But military orders were absolute—no matter how difficult, he had to carry them out.
Bracing himself, he pulled up the Archangel's control stick, adjusted the thruster angles, and maximized the output of the bottom-side thrusters.
Following Arnold's maneuvers, the Archangel began to spin rapidly, flipping over entirely.
When the ship had rotated 180 degrees, gunner Romero Pal fired the twin-mounted high-energy beam cannons, locking simultaneously onto the two Ginns.
In an instant, two streaks of green light pierced through one Ginn. Mere fractions of a second later, two more beams tore through the other.
At that same moment, Tolle's upgraded Ginn plunged into the sea, unleashing a combined rocket launcher and beam rifle barrage at a Ginn directly below.
Meanwhile, the Archangel completed a full 360-degree spiral rotation, returning to its normal orientation.
Tolle then activated the underwater thrusters on his upgraded Ginn's shoulders, darting toward the last one-armed Ginn. With the beam saber mounted on his assault shield, he executed a point-blank thrust.
As the four Ginns exploded one after another, the shockwaves disrupted the underwater advance of the mobile armor ZnO, throwing it off course in the turbulent waves.
Kira seized the opening, charging in with the Strike Gundam. Driving the point of his Anti-Ship Sword downward, he aimed to stab straight into the ZnO's torso.
The pilot of the ZnO tried to dodge, but it was too late. The Strike's blade plunged deep into the left shoulder of the ZnO.
The ZnO retaliated fiercely, its right claw clamping down on the Strike's head, slamming it onto the seabed.
Its claw-mounted beam gun began charging, ready to deliver a fatal shot.
Sensing imminent danger, Kira drew the combat knife from his waist and stabbed into both of the ZnO's shoulders, crippling its arms completely.
The Strike then grabbed the ZnO's head intake and kicked its abdomen, throwing it into the seabed with an Earth-style slam.
The ZnO hit the ground and detonated in a massive explosion—both machine and pilot annihilated.
Seeing Kira safe, Tolle turned and flew out of the water toward Mu and Cagalli's position.
At that time, Mu and Cagalli were being pursued by two DINNs. Mu could still dodge while counterattacking here and there, but Cagalli was in dire straits, barely able to accelerate away. Worse, the DINNs often used her Skygrasper as a shield to block Mu's fire.
Several times Mu nearly hit Cagalli by mistake. In the end, he had no choice but to give up attacking, escorting her back toward the Archangel to seek cover fire.
But luck ran out. Cagalli's Skygrasper was struck by DINN fire, forcing her to steer it toward a nearby island.
From a distance, Tolle saw her machine hit and immediately pushed his thrusters to full.
With the upgraded Ginn's engines at maximum, he arrived at the scene swiftly, catching the DINNs off guard. His beam rifle fired rapid shots, instantly destroying one DINN in a burst of flame.
The last DINN, enraged at its comrade's death, launched a suicidal assault, unleashing missiles, heavy machine gun fire, and anti-air scattershots as it charged headlong at Tolle.
Tolle maneuvered the Zero Moebius backpack, tilting the thrusters upward and soaring into the sky, easily evading the barrage.
Enduring intense g-forces, he reoriented mid-air and dived toward the DINN from above.
With the sun as perfect cover, the upgraded Ginn descended vertically, pouring beam rifle fire onto its target.
The final DINN was reduced to dust under the relentless barrage, ending the battle.
Tolle quickly opened comms, calling out to Cagalli, whose machine had flown off and was now out of sight.
"Cagalli, are you alright? I'll come rescue you right away."
"I'm fine, just the navigation system's been damaged…"
Before she could finish, the transmission was cut off.
Tolle then hailed Mu. "Uncle Mu, you head back first. I'll go fetch that wild girl Cagalli."
Mu nodded in agreement. "Alright. Be careful."
At that moment, Cagalli spotted an approaching transport plane in the distance, heading directly toward her.
If Tolle had been there, he would have recognized it immediately—it was carrying Athrun and his Aegis Gundam.
But Cagalli, true to form, wasted no words and charged straight at the aircraft.
The transport plane's crew also noticed her Skygrasper, opening fire with machine guns from a distance.
Before Cagalli could react, her Skygrasper's wing was riddled with bullets, sending it into a deadly wobble.
Refusing to yield, she lifted the nose at the last moment and fired volley after volley of beam shots at the transport plane.
Her blasts tore into the aircraft, shattering its cockpit and killing several crew members instantly.
Athrun hadn't even had time to deploy the Aegis before the stricken transport lurched, tossing him out violently. He plummeted onto an island below.
Cagalli also attempted an emergency crash landing, steering her Skygrasper toward the same island.
Her craft lodged between coral reefs, but the impact knocked her unconscious.
Still searching for her, Tolle suddenly felt his upgraded Ginn shudder violently. Moments later, he received a warning from Nami.
"Master, the Zero Moebius backpack thrusters have completely overheated and failed—we can't sustain flight any longer. We need to return immediately, or the whole machine could explode."
"What? Nami, can't you just assimilate and fix it?"
Nami's voice trembled with tears.
"Master, I've already tried. But the thruster temperature has exceeded a thousand degrees Celsius. Even the neo DG cells can't withstand such heat. If we keep going, the entire Ginn might blow apart!"
Hearing that, Tolle backed down at once. After all, Cagalli had DG cells in her body—she should be able to survive.
Besides, he recalled… wasn't this supposed to be the very moment when Cagalli and Athrun officially met for the first time, stranded together on an island?