"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
ZAFT battleships were being sunk one after another, not to mention the countless Mobile Suits destroyed beyond measure.
Post-battle, these damaged components floating across the battlefield would likely have scrap dealers popping champagne in celebration.
Wang Hu, who had created this scene, piloted the Dendrobium through the battlefield as if entering unopposed territory, continuously cutting down enemy commanders and capturing flags without any obstruction.
Nothing along the way could make him pause even slightly.
Although the East Asia Fleet had activated the Boaz Fortress, and it appeared it would smash through Genesis like a bowling ball without any trouble,
Wang Hu still wanted to get close enough to Genesis to capture the moment of the century's hegemony shift on camera.
Especially after hearing that his own East Asian Federation Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs had taken an exceptional photo inside an Atlantic Federation snow house.
Not wanting to be outdone by anyone in his lifetime, Wang Hu also wanted to compete for a certain news award.
However, the Coordinators were not clay dolls made for players to smash at will.
Just as Wang Hu had used the Dendrobium's Beam Cannon, comparable to a battleship's main gun, to sink an enemy Nazca-class Battleship,
Suddenly, four dazzling spots of light flashed from the wreckage of the shattered battleship, and as they appeared, the surrounding steel melted into molten iron!
In an instant, four thick and bright massive beams shot out, burning through the wreckage of the damaged Nazca-class Battleship, disregarding the possible surviving Coordinator soldiers inside.
Then, they swept straight toward Wang Hu, who was preparing to leave!
"Oh?"
The alarm in the Dendrobium's cockpit beeped incessantly. Wang Hu curiously glanced at the four beams attacking him.
Of course, he wouldn't mistake these four beams for searchlights under the night sky, so he gently adjusted the Mobile Suit's control stick.
With a nimble dance entirely unbefitting the Dendrobium's exaggerated exterior, Wang Hu smoothly evaded the four beams' pursuit and interception, moving with the lively steps of a sprite.
No matter how the four beams tried to tail and intercept him, they couldn't catch the elusive Wang Hu.
"Green Mantis? No, it seems more like a hybrid Red Mantis?"
While dodging, Wang Hu observed the newcomer before him, whose overall size was comparable to his Dendrobium.
Logically, this thing shouldn't appear in the ZAFT Forces, right?
Firstly, Coordinators stubbornly believed that Mobile Armors were outdated, something only foolish Naturals would use.
Things like the Prototype Chaos Gundam were already the limit for the proud Coordinators.
And this roughly 79-meter-tall thing before him didn't look like a product of the Coordinators at all.
It would be more understandable if the Atlantic Federation Army had manufactured it, as they truly liked such thick and large things.
Moreover, the most important point was that the thing before him looked strikingly similar
to a hybrid variety of Lowe Guele and Lowe Guele II from another world in Wang Hu's memory!
Although with this world's technology, they could produce the same thing.
Not to mention the CE world had completed decades' worth of weapons iteration in just one or two years.
But was this a coincidence?
While Wang Hu was still puzzling over why he could encounter such things here,
the Red Mantis, as usual, was chasing him with the four Beam Cannons on its shoulders. But just as Wang Hu's attention was captured by the Red Mantis,
eleven pitch-black shuttle-shaped Dragoons from the Destiny Gundam had quietly flown to a position outside Wang Hu's line of sight.
Forty-three beams woven into an impenetrable net descended upon Wang Hu from behind.
Simultaneously, perfectly coordinated, the Red Mantis was clearly working in tandem with those Destiny Gundam's Dragoons.
Its high-power abdominal Beam Cannon timely erected a towering pillar of light in front of Wang Hu.
If Wang Hu tried to rely on speed to charge forward, he would undoubtedly meet destruction and death!
"If I don't dodge, then I won't dodge."
Times had changed, and describing Wang Hu's mobile suit as a massive upgrade would be an understatement.
In the cockpit, Wang Hu casually pressed a button. With a crisp clicking sound,
the Dendrobium deployed a shield resembling the Eurasian Federation's Moon Umbrella Shield around its perimeter. Since the East Asian Federation military had already popularized this technology to their Battleships, it didn't seem abrupt at all for the Dendrobium to possess it now.
"Moon Umbrella?"
Staring at the Dendrobium hidden beneath the crystalline beam shield, Nicol, who had just launched the sneak attack, gritted his teeth in frustration.
He had thought his earlier strike would achieve at least some results.
But no matter!
This was within expectations anyway!
Nicol's gaze fell below Wang Hu's Dendrobium. If beam weapons were useless, then they'd settle this with blades and sheer determination!
Having suffered numerous defeats at Wang Hu's hands, Athrun pushed the Justice Gundam to its limits, pressing the accelerator pedal flush with the floor.
His eyes blazing, Athrun fixed his gaze on the seemingly vulnerable underbelly of the Dendrobium now visible in his sights.
That was his designated target for today!
Gripping the Double-Edged Beam Saber, just as Wang Hu blocked his friend Nicol's Dragoon beams,
the crimson Justice Gundam had already closed in to a position highly threatening to Wang Hu.
"Die, Wang Hu!"
With an explosive shout, Athrun merged with his blade, focusing entirely on his assault toward the target.
"Naive!"
As if anticipating this all along, two Beam Claws opened beneath the pure white Dendrobium's frame.
Simultaneously with Athrun's charge, the Dendrobium's hundred-meter-long Beam Saber thrust straight downward.
As the saying goes, on the battlefield, the spear reigns supreme among weapons. If you, Athrun, refuse to recognize this, don't blame me for skewering you.
"Bastard."
If he could take Wang Hu down with him, Athrun thought that might be an acceptable trade.
But achieving a world where only he got hurt was something he wasn't willing to accept - it was simply too costly!
Raising his shield, Athrun attempted to block Wang Hu's piercing Beam Saber.
He stared regretfully at the Dendrobium's underbelly that seemed almost within reach, as if he could grab it with just one more stretch.
Then Athrun's expression instantly changed.
"This is... this feeling again!"
"Damn it!" Athrun cried out in frustration as his Justice Gundam was sent flying by a tremendous force, completely thrown away from the place he had been longing for even in his dreams.
The pure white underside of the Dendrobium.
It turned out Wang Hu had seen Athrun tilting his shield, still trying to hold on and test if there was any chance for a sneak attack.
So Wang Hu simply changed his thrust into a sweeping strike, batting Athrun's Justice Gundam away like hitting a baseball.
Once again recreating the scene from last time when he had knocked Athrun away outside the capital satellite of the PLANT satellite cluster.
But just as Wang Hu had dealt with Nicol and Athrun, two massive claws armed with three beam sabers each appeared in his view, looking particularly menacing.
If this were within the Earth Sphere, these beam claws would certainly be accompanied by howling winds.
The attacking aura was so intense it might have blown Wang Hu's face into comical expressions as the deadly claws came tearing toward him.
"Haven't you had enough? Treating me like a final boss? All I want is to take a photo!"
Shaking his head helplessly, Wang Hu had lost count of how many times he'd been ganged up on by elite ZAFT Forces.
Long accustomed to such situations, Wang Hu manipulated his new mobile suit within the Dendrobium to extend its arms.
Immediately, mechanical arms from the Dendrobium's side components handed two large-caliber folding rocket launchers to Wang Hu.
After briefly aiming, Wang Hu realized with surprise - did these two approaching beam claws even require careful targeting?
The enemy was practically right in his face! He could just fire the rockets forward and they'd hit with 100% accuracy!
"Boom! Boom!"
Two explosions erupted on the enemy's beam claws, the high-powered rockets sending the claws flying away.
Finally, Wang Hu had time to counterattack. Adhering to the principle of reciprocity, he couldn't just keep taking hits without fighting back.
Focusing on the Red Mantis that was clearly piloted by an old acquaintance, Wang Hu specifically selected the most numerous missile bays in his Dendrobium as his gift.
Though Wang Hu didn't expect the 108-round micro-missile pod to finish off his old friend completely, it should at least keep him busy for a while?
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."
Like the fireworks East Asian people love to set off during New Year celebrations, 108 micro-missiles came raining down toward the Red Mantis.
Large mobile suits had their advantages - more space meant more room for weapons and equipment.
But not every large mobile suit could match the Dendrobium's speed, and the Red Mantis wasn't known for speed either.
Its role was more like an unstoppable steamroller on the battlefield.
So instead of dodging Wang Hu's return gift, it activated the beam generators on both sides of its chest.
A curtain of light spread out, sufficient to cover the mobile suit's front.
Just like the physical and beam-resistant shield of the Destroy Gundam created by LOGOS for the Atlantic Federation Army during the Second War.
Relying on this beam shield, the Red Mantis steadily intercepted all missiles coming from the front.
The beam shield remained unwavering, gleaming brilliantly within the smoke of the exploding missiles.
As for those missiles that flew past the Red Mantis's sides, there was no need to worry.
Right on the Red Mantis itself, Yzak and Dearka popped their heads out.
The enhanced Qilin might not be able to confront Wang Hu's Dendrobium head-on, but dealing with those missiles was hardly any trouble at all.
After all, both of them had ranked among the top ten graduates of their ZAFT Forces military academy class. A handful of missiles were nothing more than child's play to them.
"Hey, you've changed to a new mobile suit again, Captain Creuset."
As the first round of probing exchanges came to an end, Wang Hu finally had a moment to spare.
Under the focus of numerous hostile gazes filled with killing intent,
Wang Hu chuckled and greeted his old friend, Captain Creuset.
Truth be told, it had been quite some time since Wang Hu last had a proper conversation with Creuset, ever since the Eighth Fleet's low-orbit battle.
"How about coming over to my side? If you join us, I might even be able to restore your body to its original state."
"Surely that's far better than being stuck as a brain in a vat."
With the mindset of testing the waters regardless of the outcome, Wang Hu's tone was full of temptation.
"No need. I already have a body now."
Creuset responded to Wang Hu's highly enticing offer and then initiated a private video communication visible only to the two of them.
As Wang Hu accepted the call and saw Creuset with his newly regained body, he blurted out,
"Imitators?"
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