The rapidly charging GP02 had previously resembled a heavily armored cavalry horse.
Now, with its ultra-long beam saber extended like a knight's lance, it had completely transformed into an unstoppable heavy cavalry unit.
Nicol's mind went blank. As he stared at the lance-like beam saber, he looked left, right, up, and down.
Apart from his own death, he couldn't find any other possible outcome.
"It's over."
At such close range, any evasive maneuver would be too late. The only thing left to do seemed to be...
At the final moment, Nicol barely managed to shift sideways a small distance, causing the GP02's beam saber to pierce through his right side instead of straight through his chest.
But Nicol had moved his entire mobile suit, which for Wang Hu was merely a slight adjustment of his blade.
In reality, the difference was negligible!
"Burn."
Ultimately, Wang Hu's beam blade still struck directly in the center of the Destiny Gundam's chest!
"Damn evil Natural!"
With these final words, the chest-pierced Destiny Gundam was sent flying far away by Wang Hu's shield bash.
Thus, among ZAFT Forces' three new advanced mobile suits, one had been taken by Kira, one piloted by Athrun had disappeared to an unknown location.
The sole remaining unit, originally intended for Creuset but now piloted by Nicol - the Destiny Gundam - floated alone in space with a massive hole in its chest.
When its nuclear engine would detonate remained unknown.
"Is it over?"
Only after Wang Hu had quickly dealt with both Athrun and Nicol did Kira finally fly to Wang Hu's side.
Blinking, he stared at the currently invisible Justice Gundam and the Destiny Gundam drifting in space.
The original timeline's true protagonist clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Brother Wang Hu, what should we do next..."
Looking around, Kira spotted a shuttle docking with the Zhu Long.
Secretly wondering if Lacus had been retrieved, he pressed about their next course of action.
Should they quickly and stealthily return to the L4 East Asian Alliance Nova colonial region, or...
"Hmm."
Wang Hu pondered Kira's question.
This mission had deviated significantly from the original plan...
Neither of the two primary objectives - retrieving Lacus and severely damaging or destroying Genesis - had been accomplished.
If they returned like this, wouldn't it damage his reputation?
And so Wang Hu gazed into the distance, looking at the newly arrived ZAFT Forces reinforcements visible to the naked eye.
Although the battles with Athrun and Nicol hadn't taken long, the PLANT homeland defense forces were fighting on their home turf.
In the time it took to deal with the Justice and Destiny Gundams, the enemy had already closed in.
"1, 2, 3..."
Wang Hu counted the newly arrived enemy reinforcements from the GP02's cockpit.
"Three Nazca-class battleships total, five Laurasia-class battleships."
"Oh, they're starting to deploy mobile suits now."
"Tch, seems like they're not taking us seriously enough, sending such limited forces?"
Shaking his head, Wang Hu mentally assessed the situation. Honestly, he didn't consider the current enemies worth his attention.
If they were to...
After weighing the options, Wang Hu wasn't particularly inclined to deploy a certain weapon against the incoming enemy reinforcement fleet.
Simply put, it would be too wasteful.
Just then, the communication line from the Zhu Long connected.
"Wang Hu, continue with the original mission. Make a solo assault toward the rear of Fortress Jachin Due."
"If you can't locate the Genesis while it's under Mirage Colloid, just pick an approximate location and fire."
"I believe the blast radius of the Goddess of Love will still affect them to some extent."
Li Chengzhi offered his suggestion through the comm.
"What about here then?"
Wang Hu rubbed his chin. In principle, his friend's suggestion was feasible, but he was slightly concerned about other factors.
"No problem. I've compared the combat capabilities of both sides."
"As long as you follow my command, there will be absolutely no issues."
Lelouch's voice cut in. Having observed the earlier battle between Kira and Athrun, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that Wang Hu was undoubtedly this world's top pilot.
This meant Kira's skills were at least second-tier, not inferior to his friend Suzaku.
Factoring in the notably skilled pilots like Mu and Zhang Peng whom he'd learned about, Lelouch counted on his fingers and realized that no matter how he calculated, their side couldn't possibly lose!
"Then I'll leave it to you, Lelouch."
Wang Hu was a decisive man. Since his comrades were so confident, he saw no reason to hesitate.
Checking the coordinates of Fortress Jachin Due, he slammed the accelerator and the GP02 transformed into light once again.
It charged directly toward the reinforcement fleet dispatched from ZAFT's local defense forces.
After all, reaching the Genesis behind Fortress Jachin Due required passing through these enemy reinforcements.
Under these circumstances, why not help his comrades weaken the enemy's combat strength first?
"That guy."
Li Chengzhi smiled knowingly aboard the Zhu Long as he observed Wang Hu's movements.
He then stood up from his tactical command position and said to Lelouch:
"I'm sortieing too. I'll leave this position to you."
"Understood."
Lelouch nodded, his eyes gleaming with intensity.
He treated this as a preview before returning to his own world—a chance to show that curly-haired emperor what he was made of.
He would prove his capabilities in this world through his own strength.
Before Li Chengzhi had even left the bridge, Lelouch had already planted himself in the vacated seat.
"Major Natarle Badgiruel, I recommend this ship advance immediately, following Colonel Wang Hu's assault trajectory."
"We should break through the center of the enemy fleet formation."
Though nominally performing tactical command duties, Lelouch's tone left no doubt he was taking charge of the captain's responsibilities as well.
"Hmm?"
Li Chengzhi paused at the bridge entrance, turning back to see Lelouch with fingers interlaced, assuming the posture of a supreme commander.
"Oh?"
Natarle Badgiruel, seated in the captain's chair, gazed thoughtfully at Lelouch, whose expression clearly conveyed that following his orders was the only correct choice.
After Li Chengzhi exited the bridge, Natarle briefly considered the situation internally.
"Zhu Long, advance! Maintain close formation with Colonel Wang Hu for central penetration."
"Have Major Mu, Major Zhang Peng, and other MS pilots prepare for immediate deployment."
"All ships prepare for anti-warship and anti-MS combat operations. Activate first-level anti-aircraft alert."
"Charge the forward City Breaking Cannon to critical readiness."
"Notify Kira outside to return and assist the MS about to launch from this battleship in annihilating the enemy reinforcement fleet!"
Meanwhile, Wang Hu was single-handedly dominating the battlefield in his GP02, completely unaware of the minor incident that had occurred on the bridge of his own Zhu Long.
As for ZAFT's newly arrived reinforcements, watching the murderous Wang Hu charging toward them, they had already witnessed from a distance during their approach how this deceptively agile "fat" Mobile Suit had dismantled two of their cutting-edge MS units. They also knew exactly who was piloting this machine.
The commanders across the eight battleships all wore expressions of conflict and dismay.
"The enemy is that Qilin Wang Hu of the East Asian Alliance!"
Seeing there was no way to avoid confrontation, especially while fighting near their home territory in the PLANT satellite cluster where retreat was unthinkable, the flotilla commander knew that a poor performance might not even be settled with apologies and resignation. Though seppuku was out of the question, for the sake of personal survival, he seized the final moments for a pre-battle mobilization.
"Qilin Wang Hu cannot be defeated by any single pilot—not even one or two standard MS squads can match him. All units, dispatch two-thirds of our MS to engage and contain Wang Hu. We don't need to shoot him down; just holding him off counts as victory! You'll receive top honors after the battle. The remaining forces, charge forward! Aside from Wang Hu, the rest are mere trash—take down the enemy mothership! Sinking the East Asian infiltration force's carrier means our victory!"
"Oh!"
Upon hearing their commander's plan, everyone in the ZAFT reinforcements felt this arrangement showed some tactical merit.
With eight battleships carrying 48 MS units, diverting two-thirds—32 units—specifically to tie down the enemy ace Wang Hu seemed sufficient. Such numbers could have chased down a main fleet of the Natural Allied Forces in the past. Now, aiming to avoid failure rather than seek glory, it should be enough.
The remaining 16 MS units from the battleships, tasked with destroying a single enemy vessel—even a state-of-the-art one—seemed like "picking up a snail with three fingers": a sure thing.
Morale quickly rebounded. Though the Coordinator soldiers were initially apprehensive knowing Wang Hu was the enemy, realizing that simply containing him would secure victory made many feel confident again.
Eager to achieve victory, especially against the ace Qilin Wang Hu on their home turf, one elite Red Uniform volunteer stepped forward: "I'll hold off Wang Hu."
"Me too."
"And me."
"I'll go!Following the first volunteer, other Coordinator soldiers who believed in their capabilities gradually stepped forward.
"Excellent!"
Satisfied with his troops' boosted morale, the reinforcement fleet commander's confidence soared. With a sweeping gesture, the operation officially commenced.
Just as Wang Hu was nearly upon them, what better time to strike while morale was at its peak?
"Charge!"
Amid the fleet commander's orders, the MS unit spontaneously divided into two groups. The team dedicated to stalling Wang Hu advanced first, while the rest clustered around the fleet, preparing to bypass the confrontation.
To secure victory as quickly as possible, they launched an attack on the Zhu Long.
"Watch this!"
Among the forces confronting Wang Hu, there were certainly some reckless individuals.
Surrounded by allied units, a Coordinator impulsively decided to show off.
If he managed to shoot down Wang Hu, wouldn't he become a great hero of PLANT?
Driven by this thought, he charged toward the GP02 under covering fire from his teammates.
All units had now switched to Beam Rifles to meet the demands of the battlefield.
The reckless Coordinator first unleashed a volley of beam shots, then drew his Heavy Sword.
His plan was to catch Wang Hu off guard with a surprise strike—if it worked, great; if not, at least it would buy time.
But despite the intense beam attacks from his allies all around, he was shocked to find that the GP02's trajectory remained completely unchanged.
Not a single beam from his comrades managed to hit the enemy.
"This is bad."
Repeating Nicol's earlier mistake, the overconfident Coordinator became a brilliant firework in the cosmos.
The massive frame of the GP02 tore through the flames.
Bristling with killing intent, it advanced once more toward the ZAFT Mobile Suit squadrons, which were hastily trying to scatter.
"Evade, now!"
Terrified out of their wits, the Coordinators scattered like startled ducks across a pond.
(End of Chapter)