"Wipe out every single one of those cursed hourglasses! Leave none behind! Order the Mobile Suit forces back to clear the path!"
On the monitor, William Sutherland acknowledged the order without hesitation.
"Understood!"
The comms channel went dead. Natarle could not hold back any longer.
"Sir, doing this will not eliminate the threat to Earth. We should be targeting those weapons..."
Muruta cut her off sharply. "Honestly, why are you always so insufferably preachy?"
Click.
Natarle's pupils contracted. Her face hardened as she found the dark, hollow barrel of a handgun pointed right at her.
The entire bridge froze in shock at Muruta's sudden move. Natarle said in a grim tone, "What do you think you're doing pointing a gun at me? Trying to seize control of this ship?"
Muruta scoffed contemptuously. "Seize control? I was the one giving the orders all along. Your job is to carry out my commands. So why do you insist on defying me at every turn...?"
Just then, a comms console beeped. The operator hesitated for a few agonizing seconds before daring to shatter the deathly silence on the bridge.
"Report! Dispatch from the Doolittle! The Peacemaker Corps is prepping to sortie!"
The Doolittle was the dedicated nuclear carrier. Distributing nuclear weapons across various warships carried too great a risk; if any vessel suffered non-critical damage that accidentally triggered its nuclear payload,
the entire fleet would be doomed. Consequently, the nuclear strike forces were centralized aboard a specialized carrier positioned safely behind the Dominion, sheltered from enemy fire.
Hearing this, Muruta immediately barked, "Authorize their launch! Furthermore, deploy the Forbidden, Calamity, and Raider to escort the nuclear strike unit!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The comms officer tapped the keyboard, instinctively glancing back at his captain. Anxiety was etched across the faces of every bridge officer.
Truth be told, while Natarle was notoriously strict, she treated her subordinates fairly. Beneath her icy exterior lay a genuinely caring commander. Moreover, none of the bridge crew belonged to Blue Cosmos;
they had not been brainwashed into fanatical hatred of Coordinators. While they harbored private reservations about deploying nuclear weapons, they could only keep those thoughts to themselves. Seeing her in mortal danger filled them with dread.
"No matter how powerful that weapon is, destroying PLANT will end the war," Muruta ranted, a manic glint in his eyes. "Coordinators have always been an existential threat to Earth. We came here to annihilate them!"
"But"
Before Natarle could finish, the gun-wielding Muruta cut in like a madman.
"Minimize our casualties while inflicting absolute devastation on the enemythat is what war is all about, isn't it?!"
By then, the Earth Alliance's nuclear strike unit had already launched from the Doolittle, rocketing straight toward PLANT.
Engaged in the heat of battle, Kira spotted the nuclear squadron and his face paled.
"That unit... Damn it, have they deployed them?!"
Docked with the METEOR unit, the Freedom surged forward, broadcasting the tactical coordinates to the four allied warships and all active Mobile Suits.
Aboard their respective vessels, the allied ships also detected the incoming nuclear bombers. Lacus's expression darkened, though she remained silent.
Drawing upon his vast combat experience, Andrew spoke over the fleet channel.
"The Eternal, the Kusanagi, and the shatriya will move to intercept that strike force. The Archangel will handle the Dominion. Any objections?"
Murrue appeared on the screens aboard the Eternal and the Kusanagi.
"Understood. Leave the Dominion to the Archangel. By the way, where is Mika?"
Orga, who had maintained an open channel with the three warships, popped up on screen.
"He's dealing with the Earth Alliance warships right now. We discovered that their nuclear forces launched from the reserve carriers idling behind the Dominion. Those vessels must be the dedicated transports. Mika is flanking around the Earth Alliance's defensive perimeter to destroy those carriers directly."
With that, Orga's window closed. The feed switched to a tactical display of the combat sector, capturing the fiery detonation of an Earth Alliance Agamemnon-class carrier. Just before the ship tore apart, Murrue caught a distinct flash of blue light darting across the wreckage.
"Right," Murrue said, regaining her composure. "The Freedom, the Justice, and our remaining Mobile Suit forces will intercept the nuclear missiles alongside the Eternal. The Archangel will draw the Dominion's fire to relieve pressure on Barbatos."
Her gaze hardened. Natarle...
"Port thirty degrees! Lock high-energy beam cannons one and two onto the Dominion! Fire anti-air missiles to intercept!"
"Understood! High-energy beam cannons one and two locked onto the Dominion!"
"The Dominion's main guns are targeting us as well!"
Knowing that striking first made all the difference, Murrue gave the order without hesitation.
"Fire!"
Boom!
The twin main cannons of the Archangel unleashed searing beams of light. With pinpoint precision, the salvo tore through the Dominion's number two main gun, while the second beam punched clean through its number one Positron Blaster Cannon and scarred its rear catapult deck.
Inside the Dominion, Muruta stumbled against the bulkhead, his face drained of color as he screamed in panic.
"What are you doing?! Counterattack! Shoot that damn ship down!"
Disgust flickered across Natarle's face, but her training kept her calm and collected.
"Remain calm! Adjust ship heading! Prepare the remaining number one main cannon and number two Positron Blaster Cannon, and launch aft missiles simultaneously!"
Once more, the brutal duel between the sister Archangel-class ships erupted into fire and fury, though the Dominion was clearly at a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, tearing through the Earth Alliance fleet with unstoppable ferocity, Gundam Barbatos finally broke clean through the outer defensive ring. Ahead, three Earth Alliance warships dedicated to nuclear transport came into plain sight.
Mikazuki licked his lips, an eager, feral grin spreading across his face.
"Caught you..."
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