On the bridge of the flagship, the Dolos-class, Gihren Zabi watched the disintegration of the Solar Ray System, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
"Com... Commander-in-Chief, the Solar Ray System... all of them have been destroyed... We... we..."
"Prepare the Bigro."
"What?"
"Prepare the Bigro! Lock onto them! They must be killed here!"
Initially, Gihren Zabi did not believe that Yang Hui and Char, leading only twenty or thirty people, could break through such a complete defensive line. Therefore, he had refrained from using the Solar Ray System and the Bigro to directly eliminate Yang Hui and the Phantom Corps.
Every shot from either the Solar Ray System or the Bigro incurred a massive expenditure of resources, and Zeon's resources were on the verge of exhaustion. He wanted to prioritize those resources for the final decisive battle against the Federation.
As it turned out... reality had dealt him a vicious slap to the face. Not only had Yang Hui and the Phantom Corps broken through the Principality of Zeon's defensive lines entirely unscathed, but they had also successfully destroyed one of his two greatest trump cards in a short amount of time. All three Solar Ray Systems, without exception, had been demolished.
Shame turned into fury, and Gihren Zabi no longer cared about resource consumption or the final battle. He only wanted to slaughter the bastards who had destroyed his dream.
"Yes, sir!"
"Commander-in-Chief! The enemy fleet is rapidly approaching our ship!"
"What?" Gihren Zabi looked out through the bridge windows and realized that the Phantom Corps' breakthrough route was actually aimed directly at his position. "Open all gun ports! Shoot them down!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Incoming fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Ah—!!"
The eight twin-barrel Mega Particle Main Cannons of the Dolos-class had only just begun to turn when the Gwadan's attack arrived. Thick Beams slammed into the heavy armor, tearing it to shreds and blasting open several hideous gaps.
"Missiles incoming!"
"Intercept them!!"
Without pause, following immediately after the cannon fire, came a dense rain of missiles. The point-defense guns of the Dolos-class warship spat out a metal storm like a cornered hedgehog, but unfortunately, they could not intercept them all.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Ah—!!"
"Six main cannons destroyed! 61% of point-defense guns are offline..."
"Power system offline, engines offline..."
"Five catapult decks destroyed..."
"Hangar caught in the blasts, sympathetic detonations occurring in hangars 1 through 5..."
"Com... Commander-in-Chief..."
Everyone looked at Gihren Zabi with panic-stricken faces, but a second later, they stared out the bridge windows in even greater terror. The Gwadan had already sped past the Dolos-class. The Phantom Corps units escorting the Gwadan followed the retreat without sparing them a single glance. Only Gundam Astray Unit 1, the Freedom, and the Sazabi remained outside the windows. The dark muzzle of the Sazabi's rifle was pressed against the bridge glass. The eyes of Unit 1, the Freedom, and the Sazabi's mono-eye were as cold as the summons of a Death God.
"Gihren Zabi."
"Cas... Casval..."
"It's over."
"Wait—"
Sizzle!
Before Gihren Zabi could speak, a pink Beam shattered the fragile glass, melting everyone on the bridge into a single mass before easily punching through the entire Dolos-class.
The Sazabi lowered its Beam Rifle. Inside the cockpit, Char released the control sticks and sat back. He had envisioned this scene countless times, and now it was finally done. But... there was none of the expected excitement or satisfaction, nor the anticipated relief. It was simply... flat, calm. It was as if the person he had just killed was merely an ordinary stranger, like the countless others he had slain. There was no ripple in his heart.
"Let's go." After just two or three seconds of silence, Char gripped the controls again and spoke to Yang Hui. There was no hatred, no confusion—only calm and a sense of anticipation for an unknown future. He knew the shackles that had once imprisoned him were broken. The current Char was a new Char, one who could face the future directly.
"You finally realized it's time to go, you idiot!" Yang Hui's annoyed curse came through the communication channel.
They had stopped, but the enemies pursuing them had not. In the less than ten seconds it took to stop, fire, and fall silent, the pursuing army had already caught up. The armaments of Unit 1 and the Freedom had never ceased firing.
"Ahem, let's go." Char coughed awkwardly and opened fire with everything he had, coordinating with Yang Hui to repel the enemy units. They fought as they retreated, putting in considerable effort before finally catching up with the Phantom Corps.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Phantom Corps' retreat route had not been chosen at random by Yang Hui. Besides the massive Dolos-class carrier carrying Gihren Zabi, there were still four remaining Bigros. Weapons capable of sinking a Kirin-class in a single shot certainly could not be left behind.
Thus, during the breakthrough and retreat, the Luna's Gottfried main cannons and Lohengrin Positron Cannons showed their power once more, clearing out the remaining four Bigros before the fleet made its clean getaway.
The Principality of Zeon forces, realizing they could not catch their opponents, fell into a state of chaos. Gihren Zabi was dead. Their Commander-in-Chief was dead. They wanted revenge but couldn't give chase. What were they to do?
...
On the other side, the main Federation fleet departing from Axis had entered the space around Solomon Fortress. Six Kirin-class ships were lined up in a row, escorted by a massive number of Magellan-class and Salamis-class ships. Surrounding the fleet were countless MS units acting as loyal Knights.
"Operation Star One, begin!"
On the central Kirin-class, the flagship of this operation and Revil's personal vessel—named the General Revil—Revil sat in the commander's seat beside the captain. With a grand wave of his hand, he made the heroic announcement.
"Understood!"
The General Revil led the First Space Fleet to hold the fort in the center. To the left, the Second Space Fleet led by Tianem deployed outward. To the right, the Third Space Fleet, led by the veteran Lieutenant General Buffett, deployed to the right. The MS units did not move rashly. The escort ships cleared the path directly in front of the Kirin-class, as if warmly opening their front doors to welcome an enemy home.
But...
A second later, as Solomon Fortress loomed larger in their sight, Revil, Tianem, and Lieutenant General Buffett issued the same command simultaneously.
"Activate Gottfried main cannons and Lohengrin Positron Cannons. Lock onto Solomon Fortress. Load all Missile Launchers with nuclear warheads."
"Understood!"
"Solomon Fortress will be in range of the special cannons in 30 seconds. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16... 3, 2, 1. In range!"
"Lohengrin, fire!"
Simultaneously, the Lohengrin Positron Cannons beneath the six Kirin-class ships unleashed a world-ending roar. A flood of blue, white, and red energy surged forth, galloping through space.
Beep, beep, beep...
"Incoming enemy attack!"
"How is that possible?! From this distance...!" The people of the Principality of Zeon watched in disbelief as more than ten energy torrents merged, turning from small streams into a raging tide. Before anyone could react, the flood swallowed MS, MA, and warships along its path before slamming into the front gate of Solomon Fortress.
The metal gates, which were supposed to withstand several direct nuclear strikes, were like fragile sheets of paper. They melted, were pierced through, and then the entire Solomon Fortress was core-ventilated.
"Enemy fleet is within range of the main cannons!"
"Good! All ships, main cannons, fire! Launch every missile that isn't a nuke!"
"Understood!"
Though it had been struck, Solomon Fortress could not simply stop. Under the force of inertia, the fortress continued forward. Naturally, the escorting units could not stop either. The moment they entered the Federation fleet's attack range, before they could even counterattack in retaliation, a dense rain of Beams fell, creating countless more space ghosts once again.
"General, the path to Solomon Fortress is completely open!"
"All MS units, launch! Engage in close-quarters combat! Captain Brad."
"Understood. Twelfth Independent Technical Division, begin suppression operations!"
The path was open. The Federation fleet began its advance, launching a full-scale assault on Solomon Fortress. The White Base, which had been protected in the center of the formation, accelerated to full power. Trailing long plumes of fire, it charged out of the core defensive circle to the very front of the fleet. One Astray Gundam after another launched, acting as the sharpest arrowheads as they led the charge.
"All units, attention. Our mission is to raid and suppress Solomon Fortress. Do not get bogged down with the enemy. Breach Solomon Fortress at maximum speed!" Brad announced to everyone.
"Understood!"
Amidst the chorus of determined responses, Brad could already imagine the fanatical, bloodthirsty, and cruel smiles hidden beneath the pilots' helmets. Because everyone on the bridge felt the same way, himself included.
Seeing the White Base break away from the fleet at high speed, surrounded by the Twelfth Independent Technical Division to attack Solomon Fortress, Revil and the others naturally wouldn't just sit back and watch from the rear.
"All ships, accelerate! Block the pursuers for the Twelfth Independent Technical Division! Do not let the enemy interfere with them!"
"Understood!"
The personnel of the regular units knew they weren't as powerful as the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, but they wouldn't let the Twelfth Independent Technical Division take all the glory.
The regular MS units followed closely behind the Twelfth Independent Technical Division. After entering the cleared path, whenever enemy units tried to pursue the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, they would intercept them—even if the price was their lives.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Don't think you're getting past us!"
"We can't follow the heroes to take the prize, but don't you dare think you're going to stop them!"
"Hold them! We absolutely cannot let them through!"
"Squad 4, charge with me!"
"Haha, let's kill a few more Zeon dogs!"
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