Mu's Mobius Zero was loaded onto the linear catapult and launched. His mission: maintain stealth, flank the enemy, and launch a surprise attack on the Nazca-class destroyer waiting ahead.
Moments later, the Blitz was moved into position on the catapult.
I was fully loaded. The Trikeros shield was mounted on my right arm, the Gleipnir anchor on my left, and in my hand, I carried the heavy D-Type beam rifle salvaged from the GINN. On my hip sat a GINN's heavy assault machine gun, attached via a simple rack I'd bullied Murdoch into fabricating.
Against three Gundams equipped with Phase Shift Armor, a physical machine gun was practically useless. However, I figured it might serve some purpose. As Waltfeld would point out in the original canon, even if the bullets don't penetrate, the impacts force the PS Armor to consume battery power. At the very least, it would be useful for intercepting missiles from the Buster. It wasn't completely meaningless.
Unfortunately, I couldn't equip the Cigu's shield or the heavy sword; the Trikeros and Gleipnir took up the hardpoints. I had, however, restocked the Lancer Darts. It turned out the trailer containing the Blitz's spare parts had a decent stock of them. Murdoch had given me a look that said, "Don't worry too much about ammo, but please don't go wasting it," a subtle impossible request.
"Axel-san."
Miriallia's face appeared on the Blitz's main monitor.
"Miriallia, right?"
"Yes. I'll be handling combat control from here on out. I'm in your care."
"Right. Counting on you."
"Axel Almer. The moment the Archangel fires its main engines, the enemy will detect us and launch their Mobile Suits. I'm leaving the ship's defense to you. And... keep an eye on Kira Yamato."
Natarle replaced Miriallia on the screen, her voice clipped and professional. I nodded.
"Understood. However, I plan to test the Mirage Colloid during this engagement. Please be careful of friendly fire from the Archangel."
"Copy that."
Almost simultaneous with my reply, the Archangel fired its strongest weapon, the Lohengrin.
"Axel-san, Kira, launch!"
"Roger. Axel Almer, Blitz, launching!"
With those words, the catapult catapulted me into the void. Immediately behind me, the Strike, equipped with the Aile Striker pack, followed suit.
"Kira, considering the number of G-weapons stolen, there have to be at least three enemies. To close the gap in numbers, I'm going to use the Blitz's Mirage Colloid to launch a surprise attack."
"Mirage Colloid?"
Come to think of it, I hadn't explained it to him. Kira hadn't been on the bridge when Captain Ramius discussed the unit's specs.
"Simply put, it's optical camouflage. While it's active, the Blitz will be invisible, but I assure you, I'll be on the battlefield. Don't panic just because you can't see me."
"Understood."
"Axel-san, Kira, can you hear me? We've confirmed one Mobile Suit from the Nazca-class ahead, and three from the Laurasia-class approaching from the rear. Be careful!"
Miriallia's warning came through. ...One ahead? That would be the Aegis. But three from the rear? Two were undoubtedly the Duel and Buster, as per the original story. But what was the third? It couldn't be the Blitz, since I was piloting it.
"Kira, if there's only one ahead, can I leave it to you? I'll handle the three coming from the rear."
"Eh? Me, alone!? O-Okay. I understand!"
"Panic in a real battle and you're dead. It's just one enemy, and you have cover fire from the Archangel. Stay calm."
"Cover fire... wait, what about you, Axel-san?"
"I'll be invisible. If the ship fires blindly to help me, they might hit the Blitz by mistake."
Getting shot down by my own mothership because I couldn't use PS Armor while cloaked was not how I wanted to go out.
"Ah, I see. Okay, I'll do it!"
"If I finish up with these three and you're still struggling, I'll come help. Just focus on surviving."
"Yes!"
Kira responded with surprising vigor, firing the Strike's thrusters to intercept the enemy ahead. I was a little worried, but the opponent was Athrun in the Aegis. He wouldn't fight Kira with lethal intent—mostly persuasion and hesitant attacks. While they played their game, I'd take down the three behind us and circle back.
I pulsed the Blitz's thrusters once to set a course toward the Archangel's rear, then cut the engines to drift on inertia.
"Mirage Colloid, generator output stable. Activate."
Colloid particles sprayed from emitters across the Blitz's frame, held in place by a magnetic field. My armor, my weapons—everything vanished from sight. Good. Unless I made a move, they wouldn't find me. Since ZAFT didn't have the Blitz, they likely wouldn't expect a Mobile Suit equipped with stealth technology.
Drifting silently for a few minutes, the three enemy Mobile Suits came into visual range. As predicted, two were the Duel and the Buster. But the last one... a GINN? ...No, it was slimmer, more mobile.
"A Cigu!?"
Impossible. Why is a Cigu here? Rau Le Creuset should be on the Nazca ahead of us.
I suppressed a rising panic and analyzed the Cigu's movements. Immediately, something felt off. The piloting was decent, sure. But it was only decent. It lacked the terrifying, supernatural pressure of Le Creuset. So it wasn't him... which meant... Nicol?
It wasn't impossible, I supposed. Regardless of who was inside, a Cigu was less dangerous than a Gundam.
"First... you."
I aligned the sights of the salvaged heavy beam rifle on the Buster. This weapon only had three shots before the battery died, and it was too bulky to be practical for long. The best strategy was to dump the ammo and ditch it.
"Focus."
I triggered the Spirit Command, sharpening my concentration to a razor's edge.
Now!
I pulled the trigger. A beam erupted from empty space—an unavoidable surprise attack aimed squarely at the Buster's right arm. However, the weapon's output was underwhelming; it merely scorched the surface of the Buster's armor.
Sensors flaring at the sudden thermal spike, the three enemy machines broke their formation toward the Archangel and turned toward me.
"Tch!"
I pulled the trigger a second, then a third time. They were already closing in, so I unloaded everything I had. The beams streaked toward the Buster again, but the Duel moved with impressive speed, raising its shield and stepping in front of its teammate. The beams slammed into the Duel, but the anti-beam coating on the shield absorbed the energy completely.
"Mirage Colloid disengaged. Phase Shift Armor, activate."
I tossed the empty heavy rifle toward the Archangel and dropped the cloak. Phase Shift Armor surged across the frame, shifting the Blitz from dull gray to its striking black and gold scheme.
"I can't afford to waste time with you lot. Let's finish this quickly."
I ignited the beam saber integrated into the Trikeros and charged the Duel, which was already raising its own saber. I maneuvered carefully, keeping the Duel positioned between myself and the Buster, using Yzak's machine as a living shield against Dearka's long-range fire.
I'd deal with the Cigu later. It had no beam weaponry, so as long as my Phase Shift was active, it was a minimal threat.
The Duel slashed down. I fired my thrusters, side-stepping the blow, and swept my own saber horizontally in a counter-cut. But Yzak lived up to his reputation; anticipating the counter the moment his own strike missed, he was already backpedaling. My beam saber only grazed his armor, leaving a shallow scar.
Just then, support fire from the Archangel—"Sledgehammer" and "Hell Dart" missiles—rained down on the Buster and Cigu, trying to catch them off guard. But the Cigu's machine gun and the Buster's scattershot cannons intercepted the warheads, turning the space around them into a field of fireworks.
"Archangel! I can handle this alone! Focus your support on the Strike!"
"What? Are you sure? You're facing two G-weapons and a Cigu!"
I nodded at Natarle's incredulous voice, firing the Trikeros's beam rifle at the Duel as it tried to close the distance again.
"Trust me."
"...Very well. But you've talked big. Make sure you deliver results."
"Leave it to me."
Natarle cut the feed.
"Whoops!"
I saw the Duel make an unnatural movement and followed its lead. A split second later, a massive beam from the Buster tore through the space where we had both been standing.
With my left hand, I grabbed the assault machine gun from my hip rack and sprayed bullets in every direction. The physical rounds intercepted a swarm of missiles launched from the Buster's shoulder pods, resulting in a chain of small explosions. From a distance, it probably looked like a sparkler burning out.
"Accel!"
I activated the Spirit Command for a burst of speed. Using the explosion cloud as a smokescreen, I bypassed the Duel and surged toward the Buster. I fired the Gleipnir from my left arm. Caught off guard by my charging through the interception fire, the Buster stood almost motionless as the rocket anchor's claw clamped onto its left shoulder.
I reeled it in, letting the momentum and the Accel boost hurl me into close range. I raised the Trikeros saber for a diagonal cleavage—
Danger!
Instinct screamed. Instead of slashing, I yanked the Buster toward me with the Gleipnir and swung around behind it. An instant later, a hail of heavy machine gun rounds from the Cigu slammed into the Buster. The impact reverberated through the wire to the Blitz. The Buster's PS Armor absorbed the damage, but the kinetic shock was unavoidable.
...I thought it was the Duel, but the Cigu took the shot? If I had swung that saber, I would have been hit.
"Che! What the hell is this guy? Is he really a Natural!?"
Through the direct contact between our machines, I heard the pilot's voice—Dearka. It was a contact circuit, or as they called it in the Universal Century, a "skin-to-skin" communication.
"At the very least, I don't recall ever becoming a Coordinator."
"Wha—!? That voice... you're the pilot of that Mobile Suit?"
Keeping the Buster as a shield against the Duel and Cigu, I kept talking to buy time. My goal was simply to stall until Mu's Mobius Zero could complete its ambush on the Nazca. If Dearka wanted to chat, I was more than happy to oblige.
"That's right... and I recognize your voice, too."
"What?"
"The pilot who stole this Buster at Heliopolis... I see. So the thief is still using the stolen goods?"
"!? You! You're from back then!"
Dearka shouted in surprise, finally placing me.
"Yeah. In the confusion of your attack, I ended up getting hired by the Alliance."
"Hired? You're a mercenary!?"
"That's right. ...Oh, looks like the mission was a success."
"What!?"
I saw a signal flare erupt from the Archangel. The retreat signal. Mu's ambush had worked; the path to Artemis was open.
"Normally, this is the part where I shoot you down or take you prisoner..."
Taking the Buster now would be risky; Artemis would likely just confiscate it. It was better to let events play out like the original story and have Dearka join us later in Orb.
"Try it if you think you can!"
"Unfortunately, I've got my own circumstances to worry about."
"Circumstances?"
"...Go. You guys should be getting a retreat order soon anyway."
I detached the Gleipnir's claw from the Buster's shoulder.
"...Don't expect me to thank you."
With that parting shot, the Buster, Duel, and Cigu turned and retreated toward the Laurasia-class ship, joining the Aegis which had broken off its engagement with the Strike.
"Axel-san!"
"Kira. Looks like you survived."
"Barely... I can't believe you took on three of them and came out unscathed, Axel-san."
"Well, I managed. Let's get back to the Archangel. Mu should be returning soon, too. Now we just have to hope we can dock at Artemis without issue... right."
It was likely impossible, but I suppose I could believe in a one-in-a-million chance. ...Even though I knew exactly how this was going to go down.
Name: Axel Almer
LV: 35
PP: 495
Melee: 246
Shooting: 264
Skill: 256
Defense: 253
Evade: 281
Hit: 303
SP: 422
Ace Bonus: SP Boost (Consumes SP to boost unit performance)
Growth Type: Versatile / Special
Terrain Ratings:
Air: S
Land: S
Sea: B
Space: S
Spirit Commands:
Accel (SP 4)
Gain (SP 8)
Focus (SP 16)
Direct Hit (SP 30)
Awaken (SP 32)
Love (SP 48)
Skills:
EXP Up
SP Boost (SP Up Lv.9 & SP Recover & Focus)
Telekinesis LV.10
Attacker
Gunfight LV.9
In-Fight LV.9
Limit Break (Morale)
Geass (Gray)
???
???
???
???
???
Shot Down Count: 256
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