"Battleship?"
The sudden intrusion of an artificial weapon as massive as a mountain brought a momentary pause to the battlefield.
Neither Mu nor Creuset—none of those present could have imagined that any commander in the Allied Forces would dare to act so recklessly.
"Perfect opportunity!" A glint flashed in Wang Hu's eyes as he yanked Kira out of the pilot's seat.
"Brother Wang Hu?" Kira gasped in shock as an immense force seized the back of his neck.
"Someone else?" Creuset heard a second voice inside the Strike Gundam's cockpit through the open comms system.
"Target enemy Mobile Suit, the GINN."
Meanwhile, aboard the Archangel, with Natarle Badgiruel as captain, Li Chengzhi took on the role of tactical commander.
When the battlefield situation appeared on the Archangel's screens, Li Chengzhi shouted orders to the crew to prepare the missiles.
"Six Mobile Suit Missiles, two salvos—fire!"
At his command, the crew swiftly launched two waves of missiles at the airborne GINN.
"Chengzhi, watch out for the satellite!"
Already operating the Strike Gundam's 320mm Flame God Super High Impulse Cannon, Wang Hu dialed down the firepower while reminding Li Chengzhi aboard the Archangel.
"Hmph." Creuset had already been on high alert after hearing Kira's voice.
Facing the incoming missiles, the GINN raised its heavy machine gun and unleashed a barrage of bullets.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The first three missiles were shot down, while the second wave was dodged.
With calculated malice, Creuset hugged the satellite's walls, ensuring the next explosions would strike it.
Another series of deafening blasts followed, and just like in the original timeline, the disaster-prone Orb satellite was cracked open once more.
"Again!" Li Chengzhi urged the crew to prepare more missiles. As for Wang Hu's warning—
Hah! What did he care about an Orb satellite? And who said he was the one who breached it?
Clearly, it was ZAFT's doing. Everyone saw it—if anyone had complaints, they should take it up with the Allied Forces!
"That bastard."
Wang Hu cursed his friend half-heartedly in front of Kira before donning the targeting scope and steadying the cannon's aim on Creuset.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three slightly weakened beam torrents shot from the barrel. Then, Wang Hu shoved the scope aside and discarded the Strike's massive cannon.
He hadn't forgotten—in any Gundam universe, no ace pilot ever died from a beam shot!
Drawing the Strike's armed knife, Wang Hu bent low, then sprang forward like a fish leaping from water.
Knife in hand, he aimed to skewer Creuset through the heart.
Unfazed, Creuset remained composed despite the urgency in his movements. Though the GINN's left arm and right leg had been hit by Wang Hu's beam torrent, he still had control over the half-crippled machine.
Raising the heavy machine gun in its right hand, Creuset calmly unleashed a hail of bullets at the charging Strike Gundam.
Seeing that physical bullets were ineffective against the Strike Gundam's armor—just as the Allied Forces' Moebius units were powerless against GINN—a displeased click sounded from behind the mask. Creuset swung the heavy machine gun down with a sharp motion.
"Damn it!" Wang Hu wasn't yet proficient in handling the Strike Gundam, especially with the added artillery combat equipment. The Gundam wasn't very agile mid-air either. As Creuset hurled the machine gun toward him, Wang Hu managed to block it with the Strike's arm, but the impact still knocked his trajectory off course.
Unable to blast a hole through Creuset as intended, Wang Hu watched as the masked man wisely retreated toward the breached satellite wall, refusing to take unnecessary risks. Mimicking Creuset's move, Wang Hu flung a tactical knife in retaliation.
"Wang Hu, we'll meet again!"
At the critical moment, Creuset's spatial awareness saved him. Just as the knife was about to pierce his back, he maneuvered the GINN slightly to the side. The blade still struck the mobile suit's back, but it spared Creuset from a fatal crash.
With that parting remark, the masked man fled without looking back.
"Is he gone?"
Once the dust settled, Sai and the others emerged from their hiding spots, dazed by the lightning-fast events. What had just transpired would take minutes to describe in words, yet the entire confrontation had lasted barely a minute.
Gazing at the descending Strike Gundam and the now-vanished ZAFT GINN, the group exchanged glances, deeply awed by the prowess of those who fought on the battlefield.
"So strong..." Katz muttered. "Unbelievably strong!"
While the others discussed the battle below, inside the Strike Gundam's cockpit, Wang Hu turned to Kira. "Sit back down. When we land, tell them you were the one piloting just now."
"Huh?" Still processing everything, Kira stared blankly at Wang Hu, confused by the request.
"You're a Coordinator, right?" Wang Hu shut off communications and stood from the seat, motioning for Kira to take his place. "Unlike me, from East Asia, everyone down there—except Li Chengzhi on the battleship—are soldiers of the Atlantic Federation."
"And Atlantic Federation troops, influenced by their toxic culture, overwhelmingly harbor anti-Coordinator sentiments."
"You, a Coordinator, not only witnessed the Allied Forces' classified technology but also operated a Gundam and modified its systems. Given the current climate, Kira, what do you think your fate will be?"
"Fate?" The thought had never crossed Kira's mind. Panicked, his eyes darted around nervously.
"There are two outcomes," Wang Hu pressed him back into the pilot seat. "If I hadn't shown up, they might've treated you as their lifeline."
"With the infamous Creuset out there, a single battleship stands no chance of escape. As the only one who can pilot a Gundam, you'd receive superficial respect—or they'd coerce you through moral blackmail, maybe even threaten your classmates to manipulate you."
"In short, there's a very high probability you'll be piloting the Gundam to protect the Allied Forces' classified information until we return to their base."
"Of course, if the entire ship gets blown to bits midway, that's another story."
"Secondly, with my presence, it's not like I can't pilot the Strike Gundam myself. In that case, you'd have zero value to me."
"Similarly, if you see things you shouldn't have seen, the best outcome would be you getting confined."
"Or even worse, to keep the Allied Forces' secrets, you might just 'accidentally fall overboard' later?"
"Fall overboard?" Kira's head was spinning as he instinctively retorted.
"We're in space—where's there water to fall into?"
"Idiot." Hearing such a dumb response, Wang Hu raised his hand and gave him a sharp knock on the head.
"A basin can drown someone too. I'm just making a metaphor, a metaphor."
"Got it." Rubbing his head, the meek Kira looked at Wang Hu gratefully.
The Coordinator's brain worked fast—especially since he was the so-called Ultimate Coordinator.
He immediately grasped Wang Hu's entire intention, and for a moment, his heart nearly melted.
"Brother Wang Hu, thank you." The Strike Gundam's feet landed firmly on solid ground.
Through the screen, Kira watched the battleship landing beside him and his c
lassmates rushing toward him on the ground.
With genuine sincerity, he expressed his gratitude to Wang Hu behind him.
(End of Chapter)