Seeing the blue fighter suddenly combine into a Mobile Suit, the three new-generation Extendeds sitting in the newly stolen MS units were momentarily stunned.
"It combined into an MS... No data in the database?!"
Sting Oakley tapped on the keyboard for a moment, frowning at the "Unknown" icon displayed in the identification database.
"Who cares if it's in the database or not, just take it down!"
Auel Neider, sitting in the Abyss Gundam, curled his lip in disdain and maneuvered his unit to raise the polearm in its hand.
"Don't be rash, Auel. The current mission is to cause enough chaos and wait for extraction!"
Sting Oakley's search of the database was fruitless. He casually retracted the keyboard and gripped the control stick again.
At that moment, a dark shadow swiftly swept past the Chaos Gundam, continuously firing at the red Impulse Gundam.
Its four legs sprinted across the ground, and its thrusters continuously accelerated the unit. The distance between the Gaia Gundam and the Impulse Gundam rapidly shortened. Its movements were so fluid, as if it weren't an MS but a real wolf.
"Wolf-form MA... then I'll attack the waist."
Seeing the Gaia Gundam closing in again, Shinn Asuka maneuvered the Impulse Gundam's now-free left hand to pull out the Anti-Ship Sword from its back.
The leg thrusters quickly operated, lifting the unit to hover slightly. It smoothly arced out like a hovercraft, and the Anti-Ship Sword in the left hand swung down, slashing toward the waist of the Gaia Gundam in MA form.
Seeing the Anti-Ship Sword rapidly approaching, Stellar Loussier's expression in the Gaia Gundam was ferocious. She instinctively yanked the control stick.
The side attitude thrusters of the MA-form Gaia Gundam suddenly erupted with blue flames, causing the unit to spin in mid-air.
The Impulse Gundam's powerful, heavy swing was dodged, slamming into the ground. The slightly damaged concrete road was destroyed, kicking up a shower of debris.
"It's over! It's a fine!"
Seeing the scene before him, Shinn Asuka subconsciously froze, unsure whether he would be held accountable.
But Stellar Loussier had no intention of letting this opportunity pass. The still-spinning Gaia Gundam brought its two rear legs close to the Impulse Gundam's right hand.
What followed was a swift kick.
"Oh no!"
Seeing the Gaia Gundam kick toward his right hand, Shinn Asuka understood that if he let the Gaia Gundam succeed, the Impulse Gundam would lose its balance.
In a one-versus-three situation, this was the most crucial thing to avoid. Although he really didn't want to give up the beam rifle in his hand, losing his life for it was not worth it.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shinn Asuka released his grip on the beam rifle, allowing the Gaia Gundam to kick it away.
At this moment, the radar sounded an alarm for an approaching unit from behind. Shinn Asuka took the opportunity, using the right hand that had given up the beam rifle, to draw the other Anti-Ship Sword from his back and hold it horizontally above the Impulse Gundam's head.
A massive sound of metal impact, along with the sound of beams and physical weapons' anti-beam coating clashing, rang out.
The Abyss Gundam had arrived behind the Impulse Gundam at some unknown point, and a downward slash of its polearm aimed at the Impulse Gundam's head was blocked by the Anti-Ship Sword.
"What? He reacted?!"
Auel Neider's eyes widened at the unexpected scene.
Amidst the sound of weapon damage alerts echoing in the cockpit, the Impulse Gundam took the opportunity to turn around, and the Anti-Ship Sword in its left hand, which had slammed into the ground, drew a beautiful arc, slashing toward the Abyss Gundam.
"Damn it..."
Seeing the Anti-Ship Sword close at hand, Auel Neider only had time to move the backpack weapon into the path of the Anti-Ship Sword, hoping the curved armor would block it somewhat.
With a massive impact, the Anti-Ship Sword slammed into the curved armor of the Abyss Gundam's backpack weapon, melting a significant amount of the armor, even revealing some internal structure.
Fortunately, the Abyss Gundam's mobility was not affected. Auel Neider pressed the pedal, and the Abyss Gundam used the impact force of the Impulse Gundam's swing to move away from the Impulse Gundam.
Shinn Asuka did not stop his actions, however. As the Impulse Gundam turned, the two Anti-Ship Swords were docked together, and he skillfully twirled the blade above his head.
The Impulse Gundam still hadn't stopped its rotation momentum. When it spun back to the original direction, the combined Anti-Ship Sword in its hand was brought down perfectly.
The Gaia Gundam suddenly appeared in front of the Impulse Gundam, charging at it with extreme speed.
Seeing that the Impulse Gundam's attack was unavoidable, Stellar Loussier, sitting in the Gaia Gundam's cockpit, pressed a button. The Gaia Gundam quickly reverted to MS form, shielding its cockpit with its left-hand shield.
Stellar Loussier, who was accustomed to constantly attacking fiercely to bait the enemy into revealing an opening, now realized for the first time why Instructor Clotho Buer always emphasized keeping the shield in front of the cockpit.
The massive impact force was transmitted through the forearm and shield hit against the unit's chest, into the cockpit, sending the Gaia Gundam flying sideways.
Stellar Loussier gritted her teeth, enduring the violent shock, and yanked the control stick.
After rolling on the ground, the Gaia Gundam naturally pushed off the ground with its hand. The attitude adjustment thrusters made several short bursts in a brief moment, and the previously chaotic unit quickly adjusted its direction, landing steadily on the ground.
In just a minute or two of engaging with two ZAFT cutting-edge MS units, a few drops of sweat beaded on Shinn Asuka's forehead, only to be absorbed by his helmet.
But Shinn Asuka still did not relax. The Impulse Gundam continued to spin the combined Anti-Ship Sword, like a large pinwheel.
A barrage of incoming missiles and beams was blocked by the spinning Anti-Ship Sword. Shinn Asuka took the opportunity to separate the two Anti-Ship Swords, turned to sweep an arc, giving the Anti-Ship Sword in his left hand some acceleration.
Then, like throwing a dart, he hurled it toward the Chaos Gundam, which had just fired.
"Clang..."
The powerful Anti-Ship Sword, thrown like a dart, smashed heavily onto the shield guarding the Chaos Gundam's cockpit, slamming the Chaos Gundam back a certain distance.
Having completed its mission, the Anti-Ship Sword spun a few times in the sky, dropped down, and plunged into the ground.
Shinn Asuka felt a pang of pain, looking at the base damage caused by himself again, unsure if there would be a deduction from his pay.
"Shinn Asuka, the requirement is capture, *capture*!"
At this moment, a male voice came through the communication, making Shinn Asuka irritated.
"Of course I know that, Arthur..."
Shinn Asuka observed the three MS units surrounding him in a triangular formation, frowning. "Anyway, crippling the unit counts as capture too. The maintenance crew will fix it!"
Finally, seemingly having run out of patience, Stellar Loussier gritted her teeth, her expression fierce, and stomped the pedal. The Gaia Gundam rapidly dashed toward the Impulse Gundam, which had its back to her.
"Perfect timing... You guys are the ones who might make me lose money..."
Shinn Asuka maneuvered the Impulse Gundam to turn, raising the shield on its left hand.
"Why can't you just surrender and become my bonus!!"
A dazzling light flashed. The shield in the Impulse Gundam's hand and the beam saber in the Gaia Gundam's hand collided.
-----------------------------------
"Faster... faster..."
In the distant base, Yzak Joule, already in his pilot suit, felt an overwhelming sense of impatience as he looked at the chaotic hangar.
Although the Duel Gundam had been returned by Orb along with Yzak Joule, many components had issues due to the Jesta's explosion during the Shamblo battle and needed to be remade. Some data was also lost. The Duel Gundam, which had only just been reassembled, was still undergoing debugging.
"It can't be helped that things are so chaotic right now. After all, who would have thought the Earth Alliance would suddenly attack?"
Rau Le Creuset, also wearing a pilot suit, sat in the standby room, looking at the completely chaotic hangar, a faint, cold smile playing on his lips.
"I suggest you calm down first and not let the urgency rush you."
To ensure the plan proceeded smoothly, Rau Le Creuset had deliberately brought over his own still-unrepaired unit. Furthermore, the first batch of ZAKU Warriors assigned to him as a temporary replacement several days ago were still in the debugging stage.
His aim was to delay his and Yzak Joule's launch time. After all, if elites like himself and Yzak Joule were to sortie, the Earth Alliance squad stealing the MS would likely be completely annihilated.
After all, his "gift" was hidden inside those units. If they failed to take them back, planning to send them out again would be even more troublesome.
"It's completely incomprehensible! Why would the Earth Alliance infiltrate here and successfully steal the new units?!"
Yzak Joule paced in the standby room, watching the maintenance crew frantically rushing to debug his *Grave* Duel Gundam. He slammed his fist onto the standby room's tempered glass.
"One can only say the tables have turned... After all, the Duel Gundam, a G-series unit, was originally taken from the Earth Alliance. It's only fair that they steal MS from us."
Rau Le Creuset shrugged. "However, since Shinn Asuka has gone to the site, there shouldn't be much of a problem, right?"
"After all, you and I trained him, Yzak Joule. Give him a little more confidence."
"It's precisely because I know him so well that I can't relax!"
Yzak Joule felt a headache coming on, remembering the guy whose body moved faster than his brain.
Shinn Asuka, as an MS pilot valued by Gilbert Durandal, was entrusted to Rau Le Creuset and Yzak Joule, who was awaiting his unit's repair. The two had been conducting special training for Shinn Asuka as his coaches.
Shinn Asuka's close combat and shooting skills were only average, but in battle, he seemed to completely disregard thinking, acting purely on instinct.
Once an elite pilot like himself saw through Shinn Asuka's patterns, hitting Shinn Asuka was like shooting a target.
What's more...
"He's secretly trying to learn the fighting style of that bastard... of Phoenix. He's learned a flawed imitation. How can he fight like that?!"
Yzak Joule's expression was slightly twisted, recalling a training session with Shinn Asuka where he used familiar yet clumsy and slow shield attacks and MS close combat.
It was precisely because he knew the oppressive feeling and wave after wave of assaults when engaging in close combat with Roz Links. So, when he saw Shinn Asuka repeatedly using awkward and sluggish shield attacks during practice, Yzak Joule almost laughed out of sheer frustration.
"But regardless, I believe in Shinn Asuka's ability."
Hearing Yzak Joule's words, Rau Le Creuset also recalled his past conversations with Shinn Asuka and smiled.
"In short, although Shinn Asuka is a bit rough around the edges, stalling those few unit thieves shouldn't be a problem."
With that, Rau Le Creuset glanced at the hangar. The frantic maintenance crew had just completed the preliminary debugging of the Duel Gundam and the ZAKU Warrior.
The timing was close to what he had estimated... those Earth Alliance personnel should be retreating now.
He needed his "gift" to be taken away intact... after all, it was his "token of goodwill."
Listening to the broadcast announcing the preliminary completion of the unit maintenance, Rau Le Creuset quickly followed behind Yzak Joule, who had run out of the standby room, a subtle smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
.................