Chapter 207: Barge Attack and Defense Battle 2
"I'll give you five minutes to decide. Once time's up, the offer's gone!" As Lady's voice fell, the White Fang drone fleet showed no sign of retreating. Instead, their attacks only grew fiercer.
At that moment, Zhang Wufei piloted the Altron Gundam into the battlefield, joining the defenders of Barge Fortress in counterattacking the White Fang drones.
The Altron Gundam extended its twin dragon claws, piercing through the Virgo units' electromagnetic shields, then blasted them apart one by one with its twin-mounted beam cannons.
"Dax, I'll lend you a hand. I'm not joining Treize's OZ faction—but White Fang is absolutely not on the side of justice. They're my enemy, and I won't let them succeed!"
With that, Zhang Wufei raised his twin-headed beam trident and charged straight into the drone formations.
Tolle looked at the ever-dramatic Wufei and hadn't expected him to come help. Still, if he could talk him into joining Treize's faction after the battle, that wouldn't be so bad.
"Thanks, Wufei. When this is over, let's have a good match."
"Wouldn't miss it!"
Tolle and Zhang Wufei each piloted their own Gundams, fighting in opposite directions, engaging their respective enemies.
Even Lady joined the battle, piloting the Tallgeese Flugel Zero and firing her beam rifle into the surrounding Virgo units.
On the outer edge of the battlefield, Duo and Quatre—piloting the Gundam Deathscythe Hell and Gundam Sandrock Kai, respectively—also entered the fray.
They launched attacks against White Fang's drones, but before long, they encountered the returning Gundam Epyon.
Milliardo attacked them without hesitation, brandishing the massive beam sword and slashing relentlessly.
The two Gundams were completely outclassed by Epyon's overwhelming performance. Duo and Quatre could only dodge and evade defensively.
Nearby, Dorothy and Noin, piloting their Tauruses, could only watch. They couldn't easily join the fight.
As time passed, the five-minute limit quickly ran out. The Barge Fortress main cannon began charging, its barrel brimming with a massive energy reaction.
Sensing the energy buildup, Milliardo, Duo, and Quatre all stopped fighting and rushed toward Barge Fortress.
But Tolle, Zhang Wufei, and Lady intercepted them—forming three one-on-one duels.
Tolle against Milliardo. Zhang Wufei against Duo. Lady against Quatre. The three battles reached a tense stalemate.
Then, at Lady's signal, the Barge Fortress main cannon locked onto a point near the outer wall of the colony satellite and fired.
The blast didn't damage the satellite itself, but it did annihilate a large portion of the drone fleet.
Lady opened the communicator again and said to White Fang: "This was merely a warning shot. Next time, we'll truly aim at your colony satellite.
Withdraw your forces immediately. OZ does not wish for destruction—but we reserve the right to defend ourselves. Any invader will face no mercy."
In the end, White Fang was forced to retreat temporarily, abandoning their assault on Barge Fortress. They shifted their focus toward completing the Libra-class battleship, intending to use it as the bridge to conquer the world.
Meanwhile, under Tolle's persuasion, Zhang Wufei temporarily became a member of Treize's OZ faction.
At the same time, Treize—who had fully reclaimed control of OZ on Earth—dismissed Relena from her position as Queen of the Romefeller Foundation, determined to end everything in his own way.
Stripped of her title, Relena boarded a shuttle bound for space, intending to persuade her brother Milliardo to abandon his plan to attack Earth.
Treize's unification of the Earth Nation weakened White Fang's influence over the colonies.
Many colony forces, unwilling to submit to White Fang's rule, rallied together and joined OZ's army.
Heero and the other Gundam pilots also joined Treize's faction to fight against White Fang.
At the same time, Milliardo announced to the world his intention to wage war on Earth. His stated reason: for the sake of peace in space, he would destroy the source of all war—Earth itself.
However, his true motive was known only to his close friends Treize, Dorothy, and Tolle.
He sought to replace Treize as the sinner who would ignite the flames of war—forcing humanity to face the pain of conflict, to draw out and eliminate those who longed for war, and to make people understand the value of peace.
Not long after, Colony Satellite C421 was captured by OZ forces under Tolle's command. Treize announced that he intended to use it as leverage, demanding that White Fang surrender the newly completed Libra battleship.
Milliardo, however, was unfazed by the colony's safety and resolved to sacrifice its inhabitants, attempting to destroy the satellite outright.
The five Gundam pilots watched the news broadcast together—until Duo spotted Catherine's figure on-screen.
Ignoring Howard's pleas, he left the Peacemillion battleship, piloting the fastest Gundam in space—Wing Zero—straight toward the battlefield.
But under the influence of the ZERO System, Duo's targeting locked onto the colony satellite itself.
Thanks to Quatre's intervention in Sandrock Kai and his heartfelt pleas, Duo finally abandoned the attack and regained his sanity.
Working together with Duo, they destroyed all the drones attempting to blow up the satellite.
Meanwhile, Relena arrived aboard the Libra battleship and tried once more to persuade Milliardo to abandon his war.
But even after their face-to-face confrontation, she failed to change his mind and was subsequently placed under house arrest.
This did nothing to shake Milliardo's determination to attack Earth. He personally pressed the button to fire Libra's main cannon.
The beam, aimed at Earth, unleashed a massive destructive blast that obliterated everything it struck.
After the attack, Milliardo declared that this was both a warning to humanity and a challenge to Treize.
He announced that their next target would be the strongest enemies in the universe—the Gundams.
As the Gundam pilots discussed how to destroy the Libra battleship, White Fang's drone fleet entered their airspace.
Faced with the overwhelming swarm, the Gundam pilots scattered and fought separately. Yet the prolonged battle soon left them utterly exhausted.
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Gundam Sandrock Kai
Rank: B+
Terrain Adaptability: Sea B / Land A / Air – / Space A
Fixed Armaments:
Beam Machine Gun ×1; Heated Curved Blades ×2; Shield ×1; Head Vulcans ×2; Shoulder Homing Missiles ×2
Special Equipment: Flash-blocking System ×2; Self-destruct System; Gundanium Alloy