After Reid entered the hangar of the Eternal Peace, as expected, everything was pitch black. He had to activate the night vision function of the Joyeuse Gundam to see the internal structure.
It could only be said that the Eternal Peace truly did not welco the uninvited guest that was the Joyeuse Gundam, so it didn't even turn on the lights.
But Reid didn't care. He directly found the internal communicator where he had forcibly landed in the hangar, used Mirage Colloid as a data cable to connect, and then had Hoshino Ruri on the Gran Chaos forcibly hack into the ship's system.
Reid didn't want to smash through walls like a headless fly while searching for the Wing Zero Gundam in such a massive ship.
Moreover, Reid had no idea about the specific layout inside the Eternal Peace. What if there was a shipborne fusion engine behind a wall? He'd probably end up blowing up along with the ship.
With VEDA Unit Two on the Gran Chaos, it wouldn't take Hoshino Ruri long to hack into the Eternal Peace.
The entire operating system of the Eternal Peace was over 90% computer-controlled, requiring only a small crew to maintain the ship's operations.
This ant that once the system was hacked, if they couldn't repel the enemy through cyber warfare, there wouldn't even be anyone on the Eternal Peace to physically sever the connections between modules to prevent the entire system from being taken over.
It could only be said that no matter how automated a system is, it can't do without monitoring and managent personnel. Otherwise, all the convenience before the system is hacked would co back like a boorang.
While Reid used the Joyeuse Gundam as a terminal to facilitate Hoshino Ruri's hacking of the Eternal Peace's system, outside, Ange and Salamandine were already about to engage the four returning Gundams.
Before making contact with the four Gundams, Ange said to Salamandine via private voice communication:
"Sara-chan, I've encountered their predecessor units before. The black one is a close-combat Mobile Suit, with a beam scythe as its main weapon; the red one is a fire support unit, mostly using solid ammunition; the white one is also a close-combat unit, with the thickest armor among the four, and its weapons are two high-heat scimitars; the blue-green one is more balanced, with a twin-headed beam trident as its weapon."
Upon hearing this, Salamandine laughed and said:
"Got it. Then the black and blue-green ones are mine first. You go deal with the red and white ones."
After saying this, Salamandine maneuvered her Mobile Suit with several bursts of acceleration, rushing to the flank of the four Gundams and firing the high-energy particle beam cannon of the Mirage Gundam Armor toward the center.
Since the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom was a fire support unit and Quatre in the Desert Gundam Custom was responsible for squad command, these two units were flying toward the rear of the formation.
The power of the high-energy particle beam cannon of the Mirage Gundam Armor wasn't much different from the buster beam rifle of the Wing Gundam, so the four Gundams naturally wouldn't take it head-on and could only evade left and right.
This way, Salamandine successfully split the positions of the four Gundams.
Of course, this split was temporary. Normally, the four units would instantly reform their formation once the bombardnt ended.
However, this ti, they were facing two unreasonable won.
While Salamandine was splitting the formation of the four Gundams, Ange shouted, "Sara-chan, you jumped the gun!" while simultaneously pushing her thrusters to maximum.
Just as Quatre narrowly avoided the dangerous beam cannon attack, his Mobile Suit's alarms began blaring wildly again.
The enemy's strange Wing Gundam seed to teleport, already rushing right in front of him, with a Beam Sword swinging down overhead.
Fortunately, Quatre had grown considerably since the beginning of Operation teor compared to the eve of the final battle. He calmly maneuvered the Desert Gundam Custom to block the Ice Phoenix Gundam's slash with its shield.
However, the Ice Phoenix Gundam's output was far greater than Quatre had anticipated. Even with the Desert Gundam Custom's thrusters pushed to their limit, the Mobile Suit was still being forced backward by an imnse force, making any hope of rejoining the formation impossible.
Naturally, Duo Maxwell, who was right beside Quatre, couldn't just watch the Desert Gundam Custom be pushed away like this. He quickly followed, firing a burst from the Shield-Type Twin Gatling Machine Cannon attached to his Mobile Suit's left arm directly at the Ice Phoenix Gundam's back.
In the original ani, the power of the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's various Gatling machine cannons had always been a mystery.
Logically speaking, solid ammunition Gatling machine cannons, known for their rate of fire, shouldn't be able to threaten Mobile Suits made of AC Gundanium Alloy. After all, no matter how enhanced, a single bullet couldn't possibly match the power of a 360mm Heavy Rocket Launcher.
As for the idea of continuously firing at a single point on an enemy with Gatling machine cannons, that was hardly feasible. Even if the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's arms were perfectly steady, the enemy wasn't a stationary target—it could move.
Just like the Serpent in the movie, its weapon was the Heavy Armor Gundam's Gatling machine cannon, yet Gundams could charge straight through such firepower.
Thus, in the ani's storyline, the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom truly only cleared out grunts in the final battle. The only ti it engaged Gundam-class Mobile Suits was at the beginning, during the four-versus-one fight against the Gundam Epyon and three Virgo IIs.
However, later inside the Libra Ship, facing heavily armored Virgo IIs made of Gundarium Alloy, the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Twin Gatling Machine Cannon could blast them apart with a single burst.
This directly led to widespread uncertainty about the power of the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Twin Gatling Machine Cannon. After all, one couldn't just claim that the Virgo II's Gundarium Alloy was rely a thin layer of sheet tal that could be easily pierced by random shots.
Fortunately, reality wasn't so unscientific.
Ange rely activated the Ice Phoenix Gundam's GN Field to block the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Twin Gatling Machine Cannon.
Seeing this, Duo Maxwell didn't hesitate. He deployed the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Short Saber and prepared to close in for lee combat.
Here, Duo Maxwell actually had no other choice. If the Twin Gatling Machine Cannon on his Mobile Suit's left arm was ineffective, then the machine cannons in other positions would surely be useless as well.
If he used missiles here, the enemy Mobile Suit and the Desert Gundam Custom were practically glued together, and his own missiles might end up hitting his ally.
Although the Desert Gundam Custom's armor could certainly withstand a missile or two, the impact would prevent the pilot from properly controlling the Mobile Suit, and such an opening would be fatal.
Duo Maxwell's judgnt was correct, because Quatre was currently sweating bullets.
He realized he was truly outmatched in close-quarters combat.
The enemy Mobile Suit's attack speed and agility completely overwheld the Desert Gundam Custom, and the power of its Beam Saber was also much higher than that of a standard one.
The Desert Gundam Custom's shield was quickly damaged by the Ice Phoenix Gundam's enhanced-output Beam Saber.
Afterward, he could only block with his Heat Shotels, but the Heat Shotels were certainly not as sturdy as the shield. After just two blocks, both of the Desert Gundam Custom's shotels were sliced clean through the middle.
At that mont, the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom finally arrived to break the siege, holding its Short Saber.
Seeing such bravery, Ange decisively switched targets to face this courage head-on.
With a swift turn, the Ice Phoenix Gundam executed a horizontal slash, its Beam Saber clashing directly with the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Short Saber.
Then, as the two Mobile Suits locked blades, the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's Short Saber began to lt and sever within seconds.
Duo Maxwell dared not continue the blade lock. He quickly retreated while unleashing a continuous barrage from the twin Gatling cannons mounted on the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom's chest, targeting the Ice Phoenix Gundam.
Seizing the opportunity, the Desert Gundam Custom on the other side of the Ice Phoenix Gundam made a break for it.
Quatre currently lacked the courage to ambush the Ice Phoenix Gundam; his only thought was to pilot his Mobile Suit away from this grim reaper as quickly as possible.
But how could Ange let prey escape from right under her nose?
Before the Desert Gundam Custom had flown more than a few ters, Ange, without even turning her head, raised her left arm and fired an Absolute Zero Bullet. It struck the Desert Gundam Custom squarely in the waist. Imdiately after, the Funnel Blades mounted on the Ice Phoenix Gundam's wings shot out, effortlessly piercing the now brittle-frozen Desert Gundam Custom.
After being pierced, the Desert Gundam Custom didn't even explode. Its structure, frozen brittle, shattered into several pieces from the impact force, becoming the first Gundam to be eliminated from the battle.
Seeing the state of the Desert Gundam Custom, Duo Maxwell knew Quatre was likely beyond saving.
Though filled with grief and fury, Duo Maxwell hesitated not a mont. He abandoned the ongoing struggle with the Ice Phoenix Gundam, opened all his Mobile Suit's weapon ports, and unleashed a Full Burst Mode volley at the Ice Phoenix Gundam, which had just destroyed the Desert Gundam Custom and was now charging toward him again.
Afterward, Duo Maxwell piloted his Mobile Suit away without a backward glance.
He knew this Full Burst Mode attack most likely couldn't defeat the enemy; at best, it might only slow their advance. He had to rendezvous with the Hell Death Gundam and the Altron Gundam as soon as possible, or he would be the next to die.
However, what was the condition of the Hell Death Gundam and the Altron Gundam, on whom Duo Maxwell pinned his hopes?
It could only be said their condition was better than the Desert Gundam Custom's. The Hell Death Gundam had lost its left arm, and the Altron Gundam had lost both its legs.
How these two Mobile Suits ended up in such a crippled state traces back to when the Phantom Dragon Gundam, using the Mirage Gundam Armor, fired a shot that separated the two.
When the Ice Phoenix Gundam sent the Desert Gundam Custom flying and the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom gave chase, Duo and Chang Wufei also wanted to rush to support imdiately.
But the mont the Hell Death Gundam tried to move, its alarms blared wildly.
Duo was simply unlucky; the Hell Death Gundam was closest to the Phantom Dragon Gundam.
So, after Salamandine transford her Mobile Suit from MA Mode back to MS, she charged forward, thrusting her Beam Lance directly at the Hell Death Gundam.
However, the Hell Death Gundam was, after all, designed for close combat, and Duo excelled in lee fighting.
Therefore, the Hell Death Gundam's response was far better than the Desert Gundam Custom's.
Also using a shield to block the attack, Duo, while piloting the Hell Death Gundam to raise its left arm shield to block the Beam Lance thrust, could simultaneously wield the Beam Scythe with its right hand in a single-handed swing, pulling it forward.
He intended to use the force of the enemy's repelling blow to slice the enemy in half at the flank with the Beam Scythe's blade.
But Salamandine's subsequent counterasure left Duo exclaiming inwardly about what kind of monster she was.
Salamandine piloted her Mobile Suit to transform into MA Mode the instant it sent the Hell Death Gundam flying, then climbed vertically upward.
This maneuver perfectly dodged the Hell Death Gundam's Beam Scythe attack.
anwhile, the muzzle of the high-energy particle beam cannon was now aid directly at the Hell Death Gundam.
The next second, Salamandine fired.
Duo had sensed sothing was wrong when the enemy transford into MA Mode, but now the Hell Death Gundam had no way to evade this nearly point-blank shot.
All Duo could do at that mont was to position the Hell Death Gundam's shield in front of the cannon muzzle while pushing the mobile suit to dodge to the right with all its might.
It must be said that a single projected beam shield alone could not possibly block a high-energy particle beam cannon.
The shield bought the Hell Death Gundam less than a second of buffer ti before it was pierced, and the beam lted through the left shoulder and the armor wing on its back.
Throughout this entire process, the Altron Gundam was making a round trip.
Here, it wasn't that Chang Wufei lacked teamwork spirit—it was that he trusted Duo too much.
When Chang Wufei saw the enemy targeting the Hell Death Gundam, his first thought was to go support the Desert Gundam Custom instead.
After all, among the five Gundam pilots, Quatre was the least skilled at piloting mobile suits. He was better at command, had greater foresight, and was the only one among the five who could develop mobile suits.
So Chang Wufei decided to trust in Duo and the Hell Death Gundam's abilities, believing that even if they couldn't defeat the enemy in close combat, they would at least have a chance to escape. Thus, he directly piloted the Altron Gundam toward the Desert Gundam Custom.
However, just two seconds later, Chang Wufei heard Duo roar over the squad comms:
"Damn it, I'm gonna die! Ah—!!!" (By this ti, the Desert Gundam Custom and the Heavy Armor Gundam Custom had flown far away, and their squad comms had already cut off.)
Hearing Duo's scream, Chang Wufei quickly turned his mobile suit around to check the situation.
Then Chang Wufei saw the Hell Death Gundam with its left shoulder pierced by the high-energy particle beam cannon, exploding and being flung backward.
At that mont, Chang Wufei could still hear Duo's slightly pained "Damn it! Damn it!" over the squad comms, knowing he wasn't dead yet.
So Chang Wufei quickly piloted the Altron Gundam back to provide support, positioning it in front of the Hell Death Gundam.
Seeing this, Salamandine directly addressed the Gran Chaos behind her:
"Liuli, help eject the Epyon Armor and fire a couple of smoke grenades while you're at it. I'll try the battlefield refitting system."
After saying this, Salamandine thrust her beam lance once more at the Altron Gundam blocking the Hell Death Gundam.
Seeing this, Chang Wufei naturally responded by thrusting forward with his twin-headed beam trident, and the two briefly engaged in a spear-fighting contest.
In this exchange, Salamandine was slightly at a disadvantage.
Although Salamandine knew how to use a spear, her true expertise lay with the tachi or longsword. Moreover, the Phantom Dragon Gundam also used an AC micro nuclear fusion reactor as its power source, so the output difference between the two sides was minimal. It was no surprise that she was at a disadvantage against Chang Wufei, a specialist in spear and halberd-type weapons. In any case, Chang Wufei still had to guard the Hell Death Gundam and couldn't pursue.
But at that mont, support from the Gran Chaos arrived.
Hoshino Ruri fired the smoke grenades first, followed by the armor.
So at first, Chang Wufei thought the enemy mothership was providing missile cover. He decisively pulled the Hell Death Gundam back and even used the head Vulcan gun to try to shoot down the missiles prematurely.
But these were two smoke grenades.
Chang Wufei couldn't quite understand how smoke could be deployed in space, but the enemy had done it anyway.
Chang Wufei had initially thought the enemy's smoke screen was ant to cover the firing of a High-Energy Particle Beam Cannon, so he quickly pulled the Hell Death Gundam—which had suffered a mobility reduction due to a malfunction in one of its left shoulder explosion thrusters—into an irregular evasive maneuver.
But Chang Wufei didn't expect that instead of artillery fire, what erged was a Gundam Epyon with an unusually thick right arm, wielding an orange-red Beam Greatsword.
At this mont, the Altron Gundam was pulling the Hell Death Gundam, making close combat nearly impossible.
So Chang Wufei released his Mobile Suit's grip, letting the Hell Death Gundam drift forward on montum, while he moved to intercept this strange Gundam Epyon.
Then, Chang Wufei saw this Gundam Epyon activate its left arm Beam Saber instantly, and with the aid of its Arm-Mounted Thruster, it swung a counterintuitively fast strike.
The Altron Gundam couldn't dodge in ti and had both its legs severed.
(End of Chapter)
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