Chapter 158: Academy Battle II
The MS commander replied reluctantly.
"But I really can't bring myself to do it—attacking an ordinary school, targeting those innocent, unarmed children... that's just too cruel."
Lady Une, the woman with glasses, spoke coldly and without mercy.
"Then stay behind. From now on, your combat command authority will be reassigned to someone else."
The commander panicked the moment he heard his command was to be stripped away. "W-why!?"
"Because your attitude won't just get you killed—it'll drag your subordinates down with you. Of course I can't trust you with command anymore."
Rank crushes all. The soldier, powerless to resist, immediately yielded. "I'm sorry, ma'am! I was wrong! I'll carry out the plan at once!"
"Good. Begin the operation."
"Roger. Commencing descent."
After assigning the tasks, Lady Une murmured to herself softly, "Lady Une, why get so worked up? You're just completing your master's orders. This is nothing more than going through the motions."
Two Aries units and one Leo were then ejected rapidly from the rear of the combat transport's tail section, flying toward the direction of the academy.
However, before they had flown far, a yellow beam suddenly shot out from the forest below, instantly blasting one of the Aries to pieces.
The OZ soldiers, seeing their comrade destroyed, immediately raised their beam rifles midair and unleashed a fierce barrage toward Wing Gundam.
With the school—and Relena—right behind him, Heero couldn't dodge. He could only raise his shield, defending as he returned fire with the head-mounted vulcan guns.
As soon as the Leo landed, Heero made Wing Gundam accelerate forward, smashing it hard with his shield and knocking it to the ground.
Seeing their ally in trouble, the remaining Aries units fired their beam rifles and missiles in succession to cover their comrade.
Wing Gundam staggered under the shockwaves from the continuous explosions, but thanks to the incredible durability of Gundanium alloy, it sustained little real damage.
The downed Leo took advantage of the chaos to retreat and open fire from long range.
But Wing Gundam's buster rifle—combined with its earlier attacks—had already expended all three shots, leaving it unable to counterattack distant targets.
Heero could only make Wing Gundam discard the buster rifle, draw its beam saber, and charge toward the Leo.
Inside the transport, Lady saw that the two MS units' combined firepower hadn't achieved much against Wing Gundam, so she immediately ordered the remaining two Aries to join the battle.
Heero, controlling Wing Gundam, closed in on the Leo and slashed with his beam saber.
The Leo tried to stop firing and dodge, but it was too late—Heero's strike sliced off its right arm.
Seizing the moment, Heero swung again, the saber flashing down in one clean motion. The Leo was split cleanly in half, exploding on the spot.
The three Aries pilots, enraged by their comrade's death, unleashed another volley of missiles and beam rifle fire at Wing Gundam.
Now free of ground threats, Heero regained his composure. Facing the incoming missiles head-on, he suddenly boosted backward—dodging every one.
Then Wing Gundam accelerated again, charging straight at the two nearest Aries. With a slash to one and a swift backhand to the other, both were destroyed in an instant.
At that moment, Heero saw Relena on the main monitor—standing alone in the academy courtyard, watching him. His focus wavered.
He stared blankly at her, uncertain what to do, completely forgetting about the last remaining Aries.
Looking at Relena—the very target he was supposed to kill—Heero hesitated for the first time. He had even protected her just moments ago, his emotions tangled and conflicted.
The last Aries seized the opening and fired. Wing Gundam lost its balance, staggering under the blast.
Nearby buildings were hit as well, their rooftops collapsing and falling toward Relena.
Panicking, Heero immediately knelt Wing Gundam down, raising its shield to cover Relena, protecting her from the falling debris.
As soon as the mobile suit hit the ground, his first instinct was to confirm Relena's safety. Seeing her unharmed beneath the shield, the tension in his chest finally eased.
But seconds later, Heero began to doubt himself again—he couldn't understand why he had done that. Just earlier, he had been ready to kill her.
Yet even as the Aries continued firing, Heero's body moved on its own—keeping Wing Gundam still, shielding Relena unwaveringly.
Relena looked up at the towering mobile suit protecting her and asked, "Heero? Is that you, Heero?"
But Heero didn't dare answer. He just kept muttering to himself in the cockpit, "Why...? Why...?"
The Aries' beam rifle eventually ran out of ammunition, having failed to inflict any damage.
The pilot then spotted a nearby missile launcher, climbed over, and tried to pick it up to continue the attack.
Heero seized that brief pause, charged forward, and struck with his shield—
The pointed tip pierced straight through the Aries' cockpit. The suit froze, motionless.
At that moment, Lady received a communication from Treize.
"Lady Une, the operation is to be aborted. Return to my side immediately."
"Lord Treize."
"I've decided to let Darlian's daughter live—for now."
"Why? This operation—"
Treize waved his hand, cutting her off.
"Lady, an unexpected opponent appeared, didn't they? That wasn't our fault. Just come back."
"Yes, I understand." Lady then boarded the combat transport carrying Tallgeese II Kai and Trowa, heading straight to Treize's location.
At the same time, Noin contacted Treize over the comms.
"Thank you, Colonel Treize. I'm sure Zechs will be very glad to hear that."
"It's nothing. I've had Zechs doing favors for me often enough. Letting Relena live—consider it a small token of repayment.
Please give him my regards."
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