While Orphee and Shura piloted their MS to intercept the Unicorn, the Black Knight squad had already set out.
Although they had never truly participated in a large-scale battle—especially one like this, where the survival time of an MS was measured in minutes—their hearts were filled with trepidation.
However, as the beams fired by the Earth Alliance Daggers were neutralized by their FT Armor, they felt their confidence surge. Their offensive against the Daggers became increasingly aggressive.
Carrying the mindset that "as long as we aren't facing the Unicorn, FT Armor can block all beams," they closed in on the combined fleet's MS force.
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Shortly after passing the Destiny, Mu La Flaga steered the Strike into a close-quarters dogfight with the Legend, which had already deployed its Dragoons.
Despite having only a very short time to familiarize himself with this brand-new pack, the controls were no different from the Moebius Zero he used most frequently. After tweaking a few settings, Mu was able to pilot the pack with extreme fluidity.
In contrast, no matter how high Rey's spatial awareness talent was, his control of the Legend's Dragoons was still somewhat stiff. He relied heavily on pre-programmed computer routines, though his handling of the Legend's main body remained very smooth.
The Strike swung its ship-cutting sword, slamming into the beam shield on the Legend's arm and knocking it backward.
Although it looked like a shield formed by particles sprayed from a beam generator, this type of beam shield also possessed decent physical protection, making it more than sufficient to block a slash from the Strike's ship-cutting sword.
But before Mu could pursue, rapid warning alarms blared within his panoramic cockpit. Mu pulled the control stick with practiced ease and stepped on the floor pedal.
The Strike halted its forward momentum and, under the operation of the flight pack and attitude control nozzles, performed a fluid backflip.
A barrage of beams from the Legend's Dragoons tore through the space where the Strike had been just moments ago, weaving a deadly web of light for its prey.
During the backflip, the Strike released the wire-guided pods it had retracted for close combat. The armaments unfolded instantly, unleashing live rounds, beams, and a swarm of missiles that bypassed the dissipating web of light to fly straight toward the Legend.
Seeing this, Rey's eyes widened slightly, and he recalled the deployed Dragoons back to the Legend's body.
The beam shield definitely couldn't block that many attacks; he had to at least intercept the missiles and shells...
As the Dragoons on the massive backpack disc changed direction, the Legend raised its beam rifle, firing continuously alongside the Dragoons at the incoming missiles.
The machine retreated steadily, trying its best to maintain distance from the missiles, as sweat began to bead on Rey's forehead.
He could no longer afford to be distracted by Shinn's situation; the pressure Mu was exerting on Rey was no less than that of Creuset.
Only after the final beam of the volley slammed into the Legend's shield, pushing the machine back a short distance, did Rey breathe a slight sigh of relief.
But immediately following that, the Strike's face appeared at point-blank range on the Legend's screen, causing Rey's eyes to bulge.
Accompanied by a violent impact, the Legend was sent flying by a standard, textbook side-kick from the Strike.
"Whew... so kicking people with an MS feels this good... no wonder Roz is so fond of MS flying kicks."
Even after launching such a relentless string of attacks, Mu still had enough composure to let out a whistle.
Roz's flying kick had become a legendary move among Orb's pilots. This was because, following the establishment of the Alliance, Orb's simulation trainers had been programmed with combat data parsed from Roz's actual battle records.
It could be said that every Orb pilot had been kicked into oblivion by the "Mechanical Roz" in the sims more than once. The elite pilots, in particular, dreamed of one day landing a kick of their own on "Mechanical Roz."
As a man dating an Orb MS pilot, Mu had naturally been kicked by "Mechanical Roz" too—and had even been kicked by the real Roz during live combat training.
"But that feeling... Creuset? No, Creuset isn't this weak."
Mu analyzed the Legend's pilot as he raised the Agni beam cannon mounted on the Strike.
The wire-guided pods, now retracted to the thruster pack, were not released. Instead, their top covers opened, directly firing a large number of missiles.
As Mu pulled the trigger on the Agni, the missiles curved around the Strike, flying toward the Legend under the radiance of the red-and-white beam.
But before Mu could confirm the effectiveness of the hit, a sharp warning rang in his ear again. He instinctively maneuvered the Strike to retreat a safe distance.
Several red beams descended from above as two Black Knights dropped down, drawing their heavy slashing swords.
"Kingdom of Foundation, Black Knights... so they really have crawled into bed with ZAFT..."
Looking at the familiar machines, Mu's expression soured.
Red beam-cutting edges flickered to life on the heavy swords as the two Black Knights pointed their weapons at Mu.
Not to be outdone, Mu glanced at the somewhat disheveled Legend and maneuvered the Strike to raise its own ship-cutting sword.
His melee skills might be average, but if he couldn't beat Roz, was he really unable to beat these Black Knights who were weaker than Roz?
He had wanted to see how it felt to land a kick on a Black Knight for a long time now!
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At the same time, Shinn stood dazed on the spot, watching the Psycho Zaku as it continuously maneuvered against two Black Knights.
Under Stellar's control via the system link, the Psycho Zaku perfectly demonstrated the "FA Style" design philosophy that Roz had carried over.
On the absurdly large propulsion backpack, four mechanical arms assisted the Psycho Zaku. Whether it was swapping armaments, reloading, or operating weapons to fire, every action was exceptionally fluid.
There were always four weapons firing at the two Black Knights simultaneously. Pushed by over fifty thrusters scattered across its body, the Psycho Zaku evaded every attack launched by the Black Knights.
The outer armor of the thick, rocket-like backpack unfurled, and eight relatively small, teardrop-shaped Dragoons flew out, circling around the Psycho Zaku.
Casually discarding a magazine-fed bazooka that had run dry, the Psycho Zaku gripped a beam bazooka once again.
The last two Sturm Fausts were launched, exploding against the shield of one of the Black Knights and violently blowing the shield away.
Immediately after, the teardrop Dragoons pointed their muzzles at the Black Knight whose shield had been lost. They fired in tandem with the beam bazooka, weaving a deadly web of light.
Beams slammed into the Black Knight as its FT Armor worked at full capacity to dissipate the onslaught. However, the machine's left shoulder, which stood in the direct path of the beam bazooka's fire, soon began to glow red before finally exploding.
Even FT Armor, with its excellent beam resistance, could be breached under the concentrated fire of a beam bazooka.
Just before the beam attack concluded, two red beams struck one of the teardrop Dragoons. Then, hearing the alarm in the cockpit, Stellar instinctively let go of the beam bazooka and maneuvered the machine into a sudden thruster-evasion to the left.
The beam bazooka she had discarded was sliced in two by a Black Knight's heavy slashing sword. One Black Knight charged through the split weapon, raising its blade to strike the Psycho Zaku.
Evidently, the Black Knight that the Psycho Zaku had just focused on was bait, intended to draw her attention so its teammate could close the distance. After all, the performance of this Psycho Zaku made it look like a machine primarily focused on long-range heavy firepower.
A mechanical arm delivered a telescopic ship-cutting sword to the Psycho Zaku's right hand. The sword expanded rapidly, and a white beam-cutting edge flickered to life.
Stellar swung the sword without hesitation, clashing against the Black Knight's heavy sword. Red and white beam particles scattered in all directions; for a moment, the Black Knight even showed signs of being pushed back.
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Shinn sat in his cockpit, and the communication channels had become quite lively since the Black Knights joined the fray.
"Destiny! Why aren't you moving?! Are you just standing there watching?!"
"If you can't handle it, go back and hide on your ship. You're an embarrassment, sitting in space like a target..."
There was no doubt that these Black Knights, having built up their confidence by destroying Daggers earlier, were now mocking Shinn, who had been in a "stalled" state until now.
Shinn remained silent, feeling his soul being pulled in opposite directions. Fighting alongside his ZAFT comrades against the person closest to him left him paralyzed, unsure of what to do.
"I can handle this... Shinn."
As if sensing his inner struggle, Stellar's voice echoed in his ear over a private line. "No matter what decision you make, I will support you."
Shinn fell silent for a moment. He looked at the battlefield before him and gripped the control sticks tight.
The Destiny grasped its sword with both hands, lifting the blade and holding it horizontally above its head—the most familiar stance from Shinn's youth when he studied kendo in Orb.
"Ho?! Finally moving, are we?!"
"Stop dawdling and get over here and help! I've suppressed this ZAKU. Destiny, hurry up and cut it in half!"
Seeing the Destiny's movement, a Black Knight spoke over the comms.
Shinn did not reply. Instead, he activated the Destiny's Wings of Light.
Magnificent wings of light unfurled behind the Destiny. Propelled by these wings, the machine left a trail of afterimages as it flew toward the stalemated Black Knight and Psycho Zaku.
The unit drew closer and closer until it reached the flank of the Psycho Zaku and the Black Knight. Then, under the gaze of everyone present, the Destiny swung its ship-cutting sword...
But to everyone's utter shock, the target of the sword was not the Psycho Zaku. It slammed horizontally into the Black Knight, sending the machine tumbling away.
Before anyone could react, the Destiny released its left hand from the sword. The beam cannon in its palm flashed with a dazzling light as violent energy swirled within the Destiny's hand.
Without hesitation, Shinn slammed the palm cannon against the Black Knight's cockpit and fired at point-blank range. Such concentrated energy punched directly through the Black Knight's armor, incinerating the cockpit and the reactor.
"Shinn!!! Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"
Everyone aboard the Minerva was stunned by the scene.
"You are attacking an ally!"
The Minerva's offensive momentarily ground to a halt. Everyone was bewildered by Shinn's act of fratricide.
"I know exactly what I'm doing!"
Shinn's voice rang out over the communication channel, filled with an undeniable firmness. "I am doing... the right thing!"
"Time and time again... the people I cherish, everything I hold dear, has been shattered before my eyes for one reason or another."
"But this time, I have the power... and I will absolutely not let it happen again!"
"Everyone on the Minerva, everyone in ZAFT... you are all good people."
Shinn looked up, the Destiny raising its blade as the wings of light flared behind it.
"But... I also have things that I have sworn to protect!"
The Destiny lifted its head, revealing the red marks on its cheeks that looked like streaks of bloody tears.
...................