"It's the one from the data... It wasn't destroyed by Phoenix?!"
Seeing the slightly familiar mobile suit and the codename flagged by the database, Yzak Joule in the cockpit couldn't help but frown.
Although he really didn't want to focus his attention on him right now, it was clearly impossible to recover the stolen mobile suits without taking him out first.
"Don't block my way!"
Yzak Joule glared intensely at the Raider Gundam and maneuvered the Duel Gundam to rush towards it.
"Such intense murderous intent..."
Watching Yzak Joule rapidly approaching, Clotho Buer's expression became serious. He swept the twin shield-mounted beam guns towards the Duel Gundam. "But... not yet. Before I can duel that White Devil again... I absolutely cannot die."
"Tch... annoying bastard."
Glancing at the two ZAKU Warriors relentlessly pursuing the three stolen mobile suits, Yzak Joule decided to focus his attention on the Raider Gundam first.
The Assault armor's shoulder units—the quad missile launcher and the railgun—began operating, and several missiles flew toward the Raider Gundam.
Seeing the Duel Gundam's offensive, Clotho Buer raised the shield-mounted beam gun in his hand to guard his cockpit, while the head vulcan cannons continuously spat fire, shooting down the incoming missiles.
The next second, the railgun's projectile struck the shield-mounted beam gun's shield. The intense impact shoved the Raider Gundam backward.
Clotho Buer took this opportunity to throw the chain whip in his hand.
Propelled by its thrusters, the chain whip arced through the air and flew toward the two ZAKU Warriors.
"Oh no!"
Seeing the chain whip flying in from an unexpected angle, Rey Za Burrel's eyes widened, and he stomped the pedal.
The gray-white ZAKU Warrior shielded the red ZAKU Warrior. Rey adjusted the shoulder shield's direction, blocking it in front of the cockpit.
The chain whip crashed into the gray-white ZAKU Warrior's shield, causing some deformation in the left arm. The huge impact pushed the mobile suit a considerable distance.
"Ugh..."
Feeling the violent impact, and seeing the left arm indicators glow red on the dashboard, Rey gritted his teeth. He maneuvered the ZAKU Warrior to turn around, raised the MS heavy assault rifle in his intact right hand, and continuously sprayed fire toward the Raider Gundam.
"Rey?! You bastard!"
At this moment, Shinn Asuka, who had just completed his unit change, grew anxious seeing Rey knocked flying. He raised his beam rifle and repeatedly fired at the Raider Gundam.
"Good, good... put all your attention on me."
Clotho Buer maneuvered his mobile suit to dodge a few beams, and seeing everyone's attention drawn to him, he breathed a small sigh of relief.
Just as he was about to operate the Raider Gundam to continue the fight, a blue-violet figure appeared in front of him.
Then, the Duel Gundam, which had closed the distance to the Raider Gundam at some unknown point, raised its leg and delivered a textbook side kick, striking the Raider Gundam's waist and causing its posture to become distorted.
"The OS hasn't been fine-tuned yet, but did you really think I couldn't fight hand-to-hand?!"
Yzak Joule gritted his teeth. Enduring the awkward feeling, he drew the beam saber from the mobile suit.
"When did he get there?"
Clotho Buer, just recovering from the violent shock, subconsciously swung the retracted chain whip at the Duel Gundam when he saw it suddenly appear.
"...Shinn Asuka! Watch carefully, this is how you use a shield attack!"
Seeing the scene, Yzak Joule couldn't help but recall the memory of being brutally beaten by Roz Links' shield attacks. He gritted his teeth.
The thrusters on the Duel Gundam engaged, moving closer to the Raider Gundam. The right hand, gripping the beam saber hilt, was raised, blocking the Raider Gundam's forearm.
Then, the sharp tip of the shield, like a blade, sliced past the Raider Gundam's shield-mounted beam gun and smashed directly into the Raider Gundam's cockpit.
The missiles, which Yzak Joule had strongly insisted on adding inside the shield, were fired, exploding right in the Raider Gundam's face at close range. The huge impact blasted the arm protecting the Raider Gundam's cockpit to the side.
Although the Raider Gundam had Phase Shift armor, the violent shock still transmitted into the cockpit from such close-range detonation. Clotho Buer gritted his teeth and checked the radar signal.
Good. The three of them had already piloted their mobile suits across the breach during this time. It was time for him to withdraw too.
At this moment, Yzak Joule operated the Duel Gundam's right hand to exert force, knocking the Raider Gundam's chain-whip-holding left arm a short distance away. The beam saber hilt in his hand glowed, and the newly formed beam saber stabbed straight toward the Raider Gundam's cockpit.
Watching the scene, Clotho Buer couldn't help but remember his two deceased comrades.
A beam saber stabbing the cockpit in the exact same manner, a shield attack with a similar feel... Is this an imitator?
"How can I... die in a place like this!"
Clotho Buer gritted his teeth and pressed the trigger in his hand. Smoke grenades specially added to the Raider Gundam were deployed, creating a dense interference area around them.
Yzak Joule's beam saber stabbed forward, slicing through the smoke, but there was no sound of the Raider Gundam being hit.
The Duel Gundam, pushing through the interference, burst out of the smoke. What came into view was the image of the Raider Gundam, transformed into MA form, flying out of the breach.
"Don't think you can run!"
At this moment, Shinn Asuka, piloting the Impulse Gundam equipped with the Force Silhouette pack, flew past the breach and rushed out.
"Ah... It looks like I didn't make it in time. They got away?"
Just then, Rau Le Creuset, piloting his silver-white ZAKU Warrior, belatedly arrived, uttering a sigh.
"Captain Rau Le Creuset... I'm going to continue the pursuit."
Checking the energy level on his mobile suit, Yzak Joule calculated quickly and piloted the Duel Gundam toward the breach.
"I have the same thought... However, they probably have a support battleship, just like we did back then."
Rau Le Creuset checked the time and smiled, but his tone remained unchanged.
"I estimate the Minerva will have to make an emergency launch soon... Too bad, we didn't even have time for the launch ceremony."
By now, those guys should be back on their rendezvous battleship, probably an Archangel-class?
Thinking this, Rau Le Creuset followed behind Yzak Joule, flying out of the breach, while constantly sending messages to Gilbert Durandal.
"How is the plan proceeding?"
"Very successfully. They got their hands on the units. External cameras show they've boarded the battleship. What about your gift?"
"Thanks to you, I managed to send that little gift out mixed in with your units. Are you in your office now?"
"No, I'm on the Minerva."
Seeing the message sent by Gilbert Durandal, Rau Le Creuset frowned. He raised the beam rifle in the ZAKU Warrior's hand and fired two shots toward the chaotic battlefield nearby.
"Why are you there?"
"Taking shelter, and assessing the unit's performance along the way."
After a long silence, Gilbert Durandal sent this final sentence.
-----------------------------------
Compared to the ZAFT side, where chaos reigned due to the Blue Cosmos organization's plan to steal Gundams—a plan so crucial they didn't hesitate to activate the sleeper agents embedded within ZAFT—the Orb side was significantly calmer. The biggest topic of discussion currently was Roz Links' new battleship.
Compared to the Archangel, which looked somewhat spacious even while docked in the shipyard before, this new battleship, the Nahel Argama, looked a bit cramped in the dry dock even with its wings retracted.
However, the ZAFT soldiers, upon seeing the Nahel Argama's exterior, uniformly fell silent.
After all, the design elements and appearance of the Nahel Argama were very similar to ZAFT products. These soldiers, originating from the Clyne Faction, began wondering which faction had funded this battleship for Roz Links.
"It's huge... almost twice the size of the Archangel..."
Kira Yamato's eyes widened, looking at the battleship's elegant silhouette.
"...A Minerva-class?"
Lacus Clyne had to think for a while before recalling a similarly designed battleship. "But wasn't the Minerva-class top secret? It wasn't completed when we left ZAFT."
"The appearance is merely similar. If you were to disassemble the ship, you'd find it primarily uses Archangel-class technology, along with technology from some other battleships."
Roz Links leaned against a railing, calmly watching the bustling shipyard. A large number of workers were busy resupplying the Nahel Argama.
"...Would it be appropriate to say who sponsored this battleship for you? Orb?"
After hearing Roz Links' explanation, Lacus Clyne began to speculate on the ship's backer.
"This battleship has no sponsor..."
Roz Links looked helplessly at Lacus Clyne, who was deep in thought, and Kira Yamato, who was curious. "I built this with money I saved up over several years. I am the sole owner of this ship!"
Just as Roz Links was about to continue introducing his Nahel Argama, Andrew Waltfeld walked over with a serious expression.
"Alright, everyone, put the idle chatter aside."
Andrew Waltfeld spoke up. "Something happened. We need to go to the conference room for a meeting."
"What happened?"
Seeing Andrew Waltfeld's expression, Lacus Clyne couldn't help but frown.
"According to intelligence from the remnant network we have in ZAFT, the Earth Alliance attacked a colony and stole three of ZAFT's new mobile suits."
Andrew Waltfeld shook his head, took out the inhaler from his pocket, pressed the button, and took a puff.
"In short, the fighting is about to start again."
.....................