Though Creuset lacked the accumulated experience of countless predecessors like Wang Hu, which had enlightened him early on that Aces don't die from projectile weapons, his recent encounters—both outside the Nova Resource Satellite and now in this duel—had revealed this truth to his keen intellect.
With his blade drawn, GINN's charge left afterimages as it surged forward. A horizontal slash swiftly transitioned into a downward cut—Creuset had nearly calculated every possible reaction from Wang Hu. Even if this strike didn't kill Wang Hu outright, it would at least sever the Linear Cannon from his mobile suit. He had even prepared for the worst, keeping his free hand on his gun, ready to counter Wang Hu's Wire-guided Beam Pods.
"Oh." Facing the renowned Creuset's assault, Wang Hu's response was equally remarkable. Compared to the Moebius he had piloted before, his Qilin now boasted maneuverability a hundred times superior. Pivoting on the spot, he narrowly evaded GINN's sweeping blade, the Qilin's thrusters flauntingly exposed at its rear. Then, Wang Hu stomped on the accelerator—the resulting burst of blue flame dwarfed even the power of Kira's Beam Saber.
"Whoosh."
Creuset silently watched as his blade sliced through empty air, its surface glowing red-hot, nearly softening from the heat. Raising his gun, he locked onto the Qilin's exposed rear—such a fatal weakness laid bare before him. To miss this opportunity would be unforgivable!
"Falling for it!" The alarm in the cockpit blared wildly as the fire-control radar locked on. While others might panic, Wang Hu only grinned. The four Beam Pods he had stealthily deployed earlier now lay in wait, their trap set just for Creuset.
"Naïve." Creuset pulled the trigger, but his target wasn't Wang Hu, who had so carelessly exposed his rear. Instead, his shots streaked toward the four Beam Pods, their wires stretched to the limit in a futile attempt to appear harmless.
Scorching metal slugs and swift beams crossed paths like two friends parting ways for their ideals, never to meet again.
Creuset danced amidst the beams, the radiant centerpiece surrounded by performers. Graceful, noble, and light-footed, he moved with effortless elegance, untouched by the chaos around him.
"Boom!" While Creuset seemed untouchable, Wang Hu lost his first Beam Pod. The wired pods, constrained by their tethers, paled in comparison to wireless Funnels—their limitations laid bare. This was why, despite its numbers, the Allied Forces struggled to find pilots capable of mastering the Moebius Zero.
Keeping four wired pods airborne while preventing their tethers from tangling demanded near-impossible technical skill from the pilot.
"Oh." Retrieving the remaining three pods, Wang Hu adjusted the Qilin's stance.
"Old fox," he chuckled, taunting Creuset without a trace of concern.
"Young fox."
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, exacerbated by the poorly ventilated half-mask he wore. Creuset distanced himself from his opponent.
Steadying his restless energy and regulating his breathing rhythm, he composed himself.
"Captain Creuset, things aren't looking too good over there."
Wang Hu chuckled as he taunted his opponent through the directional comm channel.
"Hmm?" Only then did Creuset have a moment to assess the battle situation near the Archangel.
At the outset of the engagement, the Zaft forces he commanded undoubtedly held overwhelming numerical superiority in terms of combat strength.
But war was never simply a numbers game.
First, Yzak had made a comedic early exit. Then Athrun's sentimental hesitation made him pull his punches.
Next, Michel had been sent to the afterlife by an enraged Kira.
Mu, who had exerted every ounce of his strength to prove himself, finally achieved his first victory - scoring a kill despite being surrounded by three GINNs.
Meanwhile, aboard the Archangel, Li Chengzhi and Natarle Badgiruel - two consummate professionals - worked seamlessly together to take down another GINN.
Crunching the numbers: while only three direct casualties had occurred, this seemingly insignificant figure represented a third of their initial nine-man strike force when excluding Yzak's early withdrawal.
"The kitten has grown fangs and begun taking lives," Creuset murmured to himself as he analyzed the shifting battlefield.
Zaft's traditional advantage had always been their Coordinators' superior Mobile Suits, which allowed their numerically inferior forces to dominate the Allied Forces.
Not only were the Allied Forces' standard Moebius units outclassed by Zaft's MS, but even their battleships - relics of outdated tactical doctrines - proved as fragile as paper against Mobile Suits.
Yet now, Creuset keenly perceived a paradigm shift.
The Strike Gundam - the Allied Forces' newly developed weapon - promised to revolutionize Naturals' combat effectiveness.
The cutting-edge battleship Archangel!
It withstood multiple heavy missile strikes with remarkable resilience, standing firm as bedrock.
One could only imagine the implications once these new weapons systems entered mass production, leveraging the Naturals' reviving industrial capacity within the Gravity Well...
Facing such an enemy, the resource-scarce, population-limited PLANTs would...
"Who pilots the Strike Gundam?" Creuset asked Wang Hu, who had surprisingly refrained from attacking during his distraction.
This unexpected chivalry unsettled Creuset.
"Him?" Wang Hu grinned at the seemingly disengaged Creuset.
"He is your dream. Your aspiration. The man you wish to become."
"Some call him humanity's ambition, humanity's vision, humanity's ultimate form!"
"At least those with delusional fantasies do!"
"Absurd, isn't it? Hahaha! I find it utterly ridiculous!"
Though aware Creuset couldn't see, Wang Hu couldn't suppress an unsettling smile.
"A man seeking to become the god who creates humanity? Could anything be more laughable?"
"Gods are best left on the altar to receive incense. Once they step down from it, they cease to be gods."
"Kira Yamato!"
Even the mask couldn't conceal Creuset's shock at this moment. He filtered out and ignored all of Wang Hu's other words.
When Wang Hu unveiled the identity of the Strike Gundam's mysterious pilot...
Creuset's hands trembled on the control sticks, his heart pounding violently.
"Kira Yamato!"
If one were to ask who in this world was most sensitive to the person represented by that name, there would be no one else but Creuset.
"So it's him."
After a few breaths, Creuset's voice regained its original magnetic tone.
"I never expected you to know about him, and that you and I would be so... alike."
There was actually a hint of mutual appreciation in Creuset's words over the phased communication.
"You and I?" Wang Hu was somewhat surprised. Was he really similar to Creuset?
"Were you also... created by Doctor Hibiki's hand? Or did you learn the truth of this world through some other means?"
At this moment, Creuset didn't believe Wang Hu's information came from higher authorities.
If the higher-ups in East Asia had known about such matters, Kira wouldn't have remained at large for so long.
The Lion of Orb might sound majestic, but in East Asia's eyes, it was nothing more than a house cat.
(End of Chapter)