Chapter 307: A Changed Fate (1)
Seeing the Astray Gundam Blue Frame Second L appear, Gina grew even more excited and laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! Now isn't this just perfect? Both Astray Gundams are here.
I'll take the Red Frame, you deal with the Blue Frame. Let's see who takes down their opponent first. Hahahaha!"
With both the Astray Gundam Red and Blue appearing, and with the ZAFT forces already wiped out, Tolle felt an eerie sense of déjà vu. This felt exactly like the manga scene where Gina got himself killed.
The only difference was that the Astray Gundam Blue Frame seemed to have shown up a bit too early.
But whatever—whether Gina lived or died had nothing to do with him. If he really did get killed, then at most they'd just give him a grand funeral.
At the side, Gina had already begun fighting Lowe. The two exchanged verbal jabs nonstop while darting back and forth, continuously firing beam rifles at each other.
Tolle felt that the SEED Astray storyline was basically a "verbal sparring drama." People fought while shouting, and their combat output seemed to rely entirely on yelling.
It felt like those scenes in certain shows where people try to break up a fight in the rain—"Stop fighting! If you keep fighting, I'm going to cry…"—that kind of vibe.
He still preferred people like Kira: ruthless, few words, fully focused on piloting. That was normal.
Otherwise, piloting while talking nonstop—if nothing went wrong, that would be the real surprise.
With a saint-like tone, Lowe shouted loudly, "Gina! Why did you destroy all the ZAFT soldiers, their mobile suits, and their battleship? They had already lost the ability to fight back! Leaving them alive wouldn't have been a problem at all!"
While controlling the Astray Gundam Gold Frame Amatsu Gina and attacking, Gina mocked Lowe in reply. "Lowe, is something wrong with your brain? Why should I leave those ZAFT soldiers alive? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?"
"Gina! You shouldn't be so cruel. Every person is a living life—even ZAFT soldiers are no exception. You don't have the right to arbitrarily take their lives."
"Hah~! If I don't kill them all, should I expose my own existence and wait for them to come looking for revenge? Wait for them to kill my family and friends?"
"They wouldn't do that! That kind of thing wouldn't happen! You're just twisting logic!"
As he spoke, Lowe—now losing the argument—began to increase the intensity of his attacks.
Seeing that he had the upper hand in the argument, Gina grew even more impassioned. "And you still don't understand the greater tide of this world!
There has never been any fairness in life. Everyone's fate is already decided at the moment they are born.
Most people in this world exist solely to offer up their lives as sacrifices for a small minority."
"What are you saying? Stop joking! Why should you few sacrifice the vast majority of innocent people? What kind of bullshit 'greater tide' is that?"
"This world is controlled by those with power, influence, and status.
In order to build a new world, sacrifices are unavoidable. That's why there's no such thing as an innocent person in this world."
"You think the world revolves around you alone? The so-called world is built together by every single person living in it."
"That's the thinking of the lowly. After all, those are things a mere junk dealer like you could never understand. Enough talk—die."
For most of their battle, Gina and Lowe were shouting at the top of their lungs.
When beam rifle attacks from both sides proved ineffective, Gina and Lowe shifted into close combat.
The solid-bladed Trikeros Kai on the Astray Gundam Gold Frame Amatsu Gina's offensive shield system clashed repeatedly with the Kiku-Ichimonji of the Astray Gundam Red Frame, sparks flying as they hacked at each other nonstop.
Watching from the side, Tolle felt his ears were about to develop calluses from all the arguing.
Over on Gai's side, however, there was far less talking. Maybe it was because he wasn't familiar with Tolle, or maybe because he was being completely suppressed and had no breathing room to speak.
Tolle piloted the Astray Gundam Gold Frame like a ghost—constantly slipping in and out of Mirage Colloid mode. One moment he would vanish, the next he would reappear and slash at the Astray Gundam Blue Frame Second L with the Trikeros Kai from the offensive shield system.
Unable to lock onto a target, Gai could only keep defending, using the greatsword form of Tactical Arms II to block attacks aimed at his unit.
Although he occasionally switched Tactical Arms II to Gatling mode and fired a few barrages, they were no match for Tolle, who already had the Concentration command activated.
At this moment, Tolle's reactions and piloting skill had temporarily reached the level of an A-rank pilot.
Whenever Gai managed to seize an opening to counterattack, Tolle would immediately pull away, firing the beam rifle from the offensive shield system from a distance.
He continuously launched beam suppression fire, all aimed at the vital areas of the Astray Gundam Blue Frame, harassing it relentlessly.
When Gai let his guard down, Tolle would once again close in and unleash slashing attacks with the Trikeros Kai from the offensive shield system.
After several exchanges, the Astray Gundam Blue Frame Second L—exhausted from constant defense—lost its Tactical Arms II, which was knocked away by Tolle.
Tolle immediately maneuvered the Astray Gundam Gold Frame and swiftly seized the greatsword-form Tactical Arms II, pointing it directly at the cockpit.
"Gai, you've lost. As a mercenary, you shouldn't get involved any further. Step aside and just watch. Otherwise, I won't hold back next time.
But I'll be keeping this Tactical Arms II as a spoil of war. That's fine, right?"
Seeing the greatsword-form Tactical Arms II held by the Astray Gundam Gold Frame and pointed at his cockpit, Gai had no choice but to surrender. "Thank you for showing mercy. I'll withdraw to the side. But I hope you'll spare the pilot of the Red Frame as well. He's shown me some kindness in the past."
"That's not something I can decide. That depends on Gina's choice. If the Red Frame's pilot dies at Gina's hands, then you can only blame his bad luck."
Gai knew there was no room for negotiation and could only obediently retreat to the side.
At this moment, the main cannons of the junk dealer battleship nearby locked onto Gina's Astray Gundam Gold Frame Amatsu Gina and fired beams in rapid succession.
Tolle immediately piloted the Astray Gundam Gold Frame and rushed over. Switching Tactical Arms II into Gatling mode, he unleashed a sweeping barrage that instantly destroyed those main cannons, then issued a warning:
"To the junk dealer battleship over there—do not interfere in their duel, and don't try anything sneaky. Otherwise, I will destroy your battleship immediately."
On the bridge of the battleship, Shuri cried out through tears, "Wuu… I don't want Lowe to get hurt…! Can you… can you please spare Lowe too? I'm begging you… wuu…"