Why did it end up like this? It should have been the arrival of support forces, the perfect chance to capture Orb in one blow, yet Muruta felt no joy—only a deep sense of irritation.
The reason was this arrogant guy on the comms.
"What's wrong? Director Azrael wouldn't be unhappy to have our help, would he?"
On the comms screen, a blond boy dressed in luxurious clothing smiled pleasantly. This seemingly harmless young man was the source of Muruta's current annoyance.
"Orphee Lam Tro… you… why are you here?!"
As a new member of Blue Cosmos, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Foundation, Orphee, had gained cooperation with Blue Cosmos through his extensive research on brains.
However, due to the growing fame of wetware intelligent combat systems and the large number of Blue Cosmos factories located in the Kingdom of Foundation, a trend emerged within Blue Cosmos to push Orphee as the head of the wetware project.
With fame and status rising, although Orphee outwardly showed some respect for Muruta, in reality he often did not follow his orders.
"I heard that Director Azrael's operations in Orb haven't been going smoothly, so I took the liberty of requesting support from the Earth Forces and brought a group of reinforcements."
Orphee turned his gaze toward the smoke-filled Orb, narrowing his eyes slightly. "We can also use this opportunity to test some new projects of ours."
"You… are you here just to rub salt in my wounds?!"
"You can't say that. I am loyal and fight for Earth."
Orphee maintained his smile, but it seemed increasingly strange.
"Director Azrael, the forces are ready. Shall we begin the attack?"
The nearby ship captain, seeing the two sparring verbally, wisely stepped a little aside.
"Tch…"
Muruta's expression darkened. He looked at the researcher in a white lab coat beside him. "Are those two ready?!"
"They've had some psychological trauma, but they are still capable of combat."
The researcher nodded and reported to Muruta, "The damaged mobile suits have been fully repaired and are ready for battle at any time."
"I will fully cooperate with your operations."
Orphee raised his hand, making a "please" gesture. "It's up to Director Azrael how long you want to fight."
After Muruta closed the comms, Orphee slightly turned his body to look at the black-clad pilots already in position behind him.
"I trust you know your mission. You are the Kingdom of Foundation's carefully selected ace pilot."
Orphee's tone, no longer gentle as before, became cold. "Your target is to pilot Foundation's prototype MS, the Black Knight, engage in combat, and bring back the Black Knight's data."
"You will not disappoint the people of the Kingdom of Foundation, right?"
Orphee looked at the Black Knight pilot before him, narrowing his eyes, sending out a mental signal.
As an ace pilot, the pilot could naturally resist unenhanced mental interference. However, this prime minister of Foundation had changed the lives of his citizens and had shown him recognition, so the pilot did not resist, allowing Orphee to influence him mentally.
After a while, the pilot lifted his head, looking at Orphee.
"For the Kingdom of Foundation, I will not let its people down."
In the hangar of their warship, a black mobile suit rested—its appearance reminiscent of some kind of knight.
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"Is the setup complete?"
Uzumi sat in front of a chair, looking at the computer linked with a tangle of cables.
The familiar dimly lit conference room, the equally familiar figures—except that a few of the senators, just in case, had already gone into space. What had once seemed a bit cramped now felt somewhat spacious.
"The setup is complete, Prime Minister Uzumi. You can broadcast your speech or detonate the explosives from here at any time."
"Very well… you may leave and go to space. You are the rare force that allows Orb to realize its ideals."
Uzumi adjusted his clothes, seemingly unconcerned about what he was about to do next, treating it as just another nationwide speech.
"…Yes, Prime Minister."
Watching the last of his companions leave the conference room, Uzumi finally exhaled.
Those who needed to stay, stayed. Those who needed to leave, had left.
Uzumi did not feel lonely; instead, he felt deeply gratified. His companions continued to walk the path of realizing Orb's ideals, and Cagalli could gradually grow stronger under the contingency he had left behind.
Now, before exiting the stage of history, as an aging lion, he could at least roar a few times.
-----------------------------------
In the Archangel's hangar, Roz was sitting in the cockpit of Narrative Gundam, flipping through the casualty report, brow furrowed.
The number of Orb casualties was rather shocking. However, due to budget constraints, the armor on the Dagger had been cut again and again, which also led to high damage rates for the Earth Alliance. At a glance, the report's tables made it seem like Orb's forces were dominating the Earth Alliance.
At present, the number of M1 Astray units had already decreased significantly. The remaining M Astrays could just fit into the Archangel, as well as the last two Izumo-class warships of Orb.
Yes, two. As projects launched during the same period as the Archangel, Orb had ultimately only produced two Izumo-class ships: the Kusanagi and the Ame-no-Murakumo.
In the hangar, except for the five G-type areas, the rest of the space was packed full of M1 Astrays.
Roz could even see the three test pilots of the M1 Astrays approaching Narrative Gundam, inspecting it carefully, seemingly curious about the suit's ability to emit light.
"…In any case, since the Archangel can reach space using positron interference without relying on the mass driver, it's up to us to cover the rear."
Through the comms, Murrue's expression was resolute. "We are currently the only ones capable of fighting, so everyone, stay alert."
Roz listened to Murrue while continuing to review the casualty report. When he reached the "Civilians" list, a surge of killing intent rose from him.
"Hah…"
Roz took a deep breath, picked up a nearby water bottle, and drank a couple of sips to calm himself.
They were still in the midst of battle. Losing rational judgment now would be extremely dangerous.
No matter how skilled the Dagger pilots of the Earth Alliance were, in the simulator, the Jegans following ν Gundam would teach an irrational Roz a lesson.
"Ame-no-Murakumo, start catapult!"
Since the Archangel had already assembled with the main fleet near the mass driver and completed its modifications, Roz could clearly hear the Ame-no-Murakumo's takeoff.
Suddenly, a shrill alarm blared.
"Detected Earth Alliance units. They have completed landing and are advancing toward the mass driver!"
With Orb forces having abandoned the island's main defenses, the Earth Alliance's advance was swift—they aimed to capture the mass driver today.
Orb's forces, on the other hand, intended to "preserve living strength," and would immediately evacuate using the mass driver.
Roz tightened the cap on his water bottle, stored it in the locker, and then donned his leg-mounted helmet.
The casualty report on the touchscreen was hidden, and the mobile suit's UI finished loading.
"Archangel, this is Roz. Ready to sortie at any time."
"Be careful. There are still three highly mobile MS on the opposing side. They've probably been repaired and supplemented."
In the hangar, Narrative Gundam was placed on the catapult. With the Archangel's departure, the launch deck opened, and sunlight filled the track.
"Roz Links, Narrative Gundam, launching!"
Roz steadily pushed the throttle. The electromagnetic catapult flung Narrative Gundam forward.
As Roz pressed the pedals, the high-mobility backpack of Narrative Gundam emitted a fierce flame, propelling it into the air.
To Narrative Gundam's left, the blue-and-white Ame-no-Murakumo streaked past like a high-speed train, then ascended rapidly, breaking through the atmosphere.
"Everyone, we must hold out until Kusanagi launches."
Murrue's voice came through the comms. "A tough battle lies ahead. Make sure you survive."
At this moment, Freedom and Justice had also completed their catapult launch, forming a squad with Narrative Gundam and advancing toward the three enemy units ahead.
"Is that… a new mobile suit?"
Kira couldn't help but be stunned upon seeing the black knight, whose appearance resembled a medieval knight.
"I see it… it's you… it's you!!"
Compared to the silent pilot of Black Knight, Shani on Forbidden Gundam and Clotho on Raider Gundam were visibly excited and began accelerating toward Narrative Gundam.
Meanwhile, the first batch of Daggers had already entered the battlefield. The Archangel's weapons opened fire, filling the sky with a massive display of "fireworks."
Raider Gundam and Forbidden Gundam charged directly at Narrative Gundam, swinging the flail and scythe, each attack aimed at critical points.
Black Knight, seeing Forbidden Gundam attacking Narrative, turned toward Freedom after Raider targeted Justice.
This arrangement played perfectly into Black Knight's strengths.
As a Kingdom of Foundation–developed MS, Black Knight naturally incorporated several new technologies, such as the prototype FT armor.
As Kingdom of Foundation's own technology, the prototype FT armor had excellent physical resistance and could even withstand direct fire from beam rifles.
However, due to limited data and the fact that it was still a prototype, the FT armor required the mobile suit's power supply to function.
The chest-mounted needle projection system was temporarily disabled due to heat dissipation issues, leaving only the chest vents.
Weapons like the beam mantle from the design schematics were still in research stages. However, some experimental weapons were installed.
This time, they were tested against Freedom's beam weapons, using the collected data to develop stronger FT armor.
Faced with the unknown black mobile suit, Kira instinctively fired at Black Knight's left shoulder.
The emerald green particle beam struck Black Knight's left shoulder armor, producing geometric green cubes, and the beam was blocked.
In the end, Black Knight sustained no damage.
"Immune… to beam attacks?!"
Kira widened his eyes in surprise.
Meanwhile, Narrative Gundam had already engaged Forbidden Gundam.
Roz skillfully dodged Forbidden's slightly warped attacks caused by Shani's emotional agitation and even glanced at the Archangel's status.
The Archangel, however, looked worn. Although it destroyed all incoming Daggers and intercepted many missiles, some still struck the deck under the Earth Alliance's intense firepower.
Under such concentrated attacks, the Archangel's available firepower was stretched thin.
"Tch, Incoms!"
Roz gritted his teeth and launched the line-controlled remote pods from his backpack.
The two pods, tethered by cables, flew through the sky. Switching to scatter shot mode, they unleashed a dense barrage, destroying a large number of incoming missiles midair.
"Still thinking about other things while facing me?!"
Shani, seeing Roz's multitasking, was furious.
"You bastard, die!"
On Forbidden Gundam's backpack, the plasma induction cannon's muzzle glowed red, firing a distorted ion beam continuously.
Narrative Gundam skillfully dodged Forbidden's attacks and fired two shots back. The particle beams twisted against Forbidden's front shield and were deflected, pushing Forbidden back.
Compared to earlier, when Roz had to conserve fuel to support other areas and fought restrictedly, now defending a small zone, he could fully utilize the line-controlled pods in combat.
The pods quickly changed direction, firing beam scatter continuously at Forbidden.
"Ughhhh…"
Shani desperately evaded the beam scatter. Despite twisting the shield, some beams still struck Forbidden, melting much of its armor.
"Closer… just a bit closer…"
Watching Forbidden enter the "hunting ground" set up by his pods, Roz gripped the control stick tighter.
"…Now!"
Seeing Forbidden enter the pods' range while evading, Roz's eyes widened slightly. He fired his beam rifle continuously at Forbidden.
Narrative Gundam's particle beams were predictably blocked by Forbidden, but that was exactly what Roz intended.
One of the line-controlled pods suddenly extended into a claw-like shape, maneuvering at a tricky angle behind Forbidden's shield.
"Clang…"
The pod grabbed Forbidden's torso, muzzle aimed at the cockpit.
"When did you get here?!"
Shani broke out in cold sweat, trying to pull the pod away using Forbidden's controls.
"Click…"
Roz, seeing the pod secure its target, pressed the button on the control stick without hesitation.
Shani watched helplessly as the pod's muzzle glowed.
Then, accompanied by a violent scream, a beam scatter was fired at close range by the pod. Forbidden's beam distortion device could not cover the cockpit, and the cockpit was riddled by the shot.
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