"Another beam weapon? And what kind of maneuver is this?!"
Watching the Strike Gundam fire at its own beam saber, effectively turning the beam rifle into a beam shotgun, Creuset felt a wave of shock.
If it were a normal shot, Creuset was confident in his piloting skills to evade every single shot.
But this unexpected shooting method... was truly impossible to counter.
"Tch... So this guy had it planned from the start?"
Thinking back to the thrown beam saber moments ago—Creuset clicked his tongue—it wasn't some desperate, last-ditch move but a deliberate setup for this very step!
Was he unconsciously... falling into the opponent's rhythm?!
Realizing this, Creuset was startled. The opposing pilot wasn't a novice as he initially judged... but likely a veteran, and a Coordinator veteran at that!
The earlier "mistakes" were probably feints based on confidence in the mobile suit's capabilities, meant to lure him into underestimating the opponent's skill!
But even realizing this was futile now—the spread-out beam shotgun was impossible to dodge. The barrage of beams slammed entirely into the CGUE.
Sparks erupted from the armor seams like molten fissures, explosion shockwaves tearing energy ripples through the joints.
Under continuous explosions, the airborne CGUE couldn't maintain stable ascent—and Creuset knew this pause would give the enemy a killing opportunity!
But he was a veteran after all—in desperation, Creuset manipulated the CGUE to throw its greatsword like a shuriken, striking the Strike's wrist and knocking the beam saber away.
This way, even if caught, the opponent would have no weapons to attack—the battle could still turn!
"Damn it, that old fox Creuset is still steaming, he disarmed me!"
Xia Chuan cursed angrily. Now he was completely out of options... Was he supposed to throw the Armor Breaker like a standard knife?
By the time he drew it, Creuset would have recovered from the stun—it wasn't a strong hard control anyway.
"Don't panic! Concentrate energy to the right arm and release it through the weapon energy transfer port!"
Lu Tianming remained calm in his assessment. If there was no time to switch weapons—going for melee combat was still viable!
After all, in the Gundam SEED side story, the Red Astray's pilot Lowe Guele used this very move, later naming it the Lightning Ball.
"Holy crap, Lao Lu, you're a genius!"
Xia Chuan had an epiphany, then maxed out output from his backpack, charging energy in his arm—whether illusion or not, he felt something beyond the backpack battery was also supplying power.
But he didn't overthink it—whoever was providing it, power was power.
A dazzling light gathered in his palm, the erupting energy gradually forming into a spherical energy mass crackling with lightning under his control and compression.
The compressed super-high-temperature plasma pulsed in the Strike's hand like a bomb ready to explode, seemingly on the verge of breaking free from the energy nozzle's containment.
"Take this, my ultimate move—Shining Finger!"
Xia Chuan roared angrily, hurling the Lightning Ball toward the CGUE in the sky.
Inside the CGUE, Creuset was utterly astonished by the Strike Gundam's moves that defied conventional weapon logic.
Diverting the Beam Rifle with a Beam Saber, using energy supply nozzles as gun muzzles... Could these tactics really be conceived by a human? Weren't they just spur-of-the-moment improvisations?
Had Federation pilots gone completely mad?!
But now he had no time to dwell on this—if he didn't escape immediately, he might perish here.
Gritting his teeth, he painfully discarded his machine gun in an attempt to break target lock while seizing the moment the CGUE's controls stabilized. He instantly spun around and retreated through his original entry point...
Engaging solo was no longer viable. The Strike's performance and its pilot's unorthodox combat methods were proving difficult for Creuset to handle.
For now, retreat was the wisest choice—he could plan his next moves carefully later...
——————————————-
"Did we get him? Did we just take out Creuset?"
Xia Chuan stared at the explosion ahead with disbelief—had they really eliminated the original story's final boss right at the beginning?
"Idiot, as the saying goes: smoke without injury... You just blew up a machine gun."
Lu Tianming rolled his eyes. His partner was really getting ahead of himself... If it were that easy to eliminate him, everyone would be celebrating.
"Whatever! Just tell me how cool my combo was? That feint followed by the palm thunder totally wrecked him!"
Xia Chuan was still riding the adrenaline high from their counterattack... If he still had a physical body, he'd probably be buzzing with excitement.
"Playing father again? Could you have done it without my guidance?"
Lu Tianming chuckled lightly, leaning back in the pilot seat with crossed arms and a dismissive expression.
"I could've handled it fine without your instructions, just with more difficulty."
Xia Chuan paused briefly but continued struggling to maintain his self-proclaimed superior position.
"Right, right, you're absolutely correct..."
Lu Tianming chuckled without further comment... If the kid wanted to call himself father, let him. Who the real authority was didn't need explanation—this was just the stubborn pride of the defeated.
"I'm going down to buy some oranges. You stay here and don't wander off."
After landing, Lu Tianming dropped a classic reference before ignoring Xia Chuan's sputtering protests behind him. He alone opened the cockpit and descended from the Gundam.
"Mr. Lu, you were amazing—those moves were absolutely incredible!"
"Yeah! I've never seen combat like that before!"
"To be fair, this is also your first time seeing actual MS combat..."
The moment Lu Tianming disembarked, he was swarmed by Kira and the others. Sai and the group were clearly excited about the impressive capabilities the Strike had just demonstrated.
Being teenagers, after the tension of battle faded... their natural curiosity about Mobile Suits resurfaced.
Plus, since Lu Tianming was close to their age and approachable, they felt more comfortable around him.
Unlike the excited Tolle and Katz, Kira stood behind the group, contemplatively observing the Strike Gundam before them.
Recalling the Strike Gundam's exceptional combat performance moments earlier, an odd thought inexplicably surfaced in Kira's mind.
Could it be that this machine's extraordinary performance was due to the Machine Spirit being greatly pleased after the recent ritual?
Kira remembered the autonomous response from the Strike during the ritual earlier, and how it had transformed so drastically after being shot down and launching another assault—almost as if it were being piloted by a completely different person. The more he pondered, the more plausible his theory seemed.
"I didn't expect you to repel even the Commander Unit. You've worked hard," Murrue said as she approached promptly, pulling a bottle of water from nearby supplies and handing it to Lu Tianming.
His ability to drive back the enemy leader had genuinely surprised Murrue. Given that the two battles had occurred almost back-to-back, she would have been content just knowing Lu Tianming had protected the Strike from being captured. Repelling the enemy so decisively felt almost superhuman.
Then again, he always appeared so composed and unflustered... Could he actually be pushing himself too hard?
With that concern in mind, Murrue decided to check on him.
Lu Tianming accepted Murrue's gesture, twisted open the cap, and took several deep gulps. The cool water soothed his dry lips and throat, strained from continuous combat and tension.
Just as he was about to speak, a tremendous roar interrupted his thoughts. Lu Tianming turned toward the sound and witnessed the Archangel bursting through the walls of the space colony, like a colossal whale breaking through layers of ice.