Shoot the God of Death

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!"

"Bang!"

"Boom, boom, boom!"

War erupted for reasons unknown. Eli, who had been on duty and already anticipating trouble, immediately woke the others, allowing the entire squad to enter combat readiness in an instant.

"Have the Zeon Forces gone mad? Attacking at a time like this!"

Shiro Amada, just jolted awake from his sleep, grumbled indignantly while jumping into his Mobile Suit.

Launching a large-scale surprise attack at this hour was simply unprecedented.

Thanks to the rainforest terrain, it was difficult to organize large-scale Mobile Suit clusters to launch an assault in this area.

Yet, the Zeon Forces were currently acting as if they had completely ignored tactics and attrition, throwing themselves headlong against the defensive line.

The concentration of Minovsky Particles, which had dropped significantly due to the poor combat environment at night, began to rise again; they were now completely unable to contact the rear.

"How could this happen..."

Karen looked toward Eli immediately.

This was exactly the same as the situation back then, and Karen worried that Eli would be affected by it.

Even Sanders, temporarily setting aside his so-called "curse," was anxious about the matter.

"Eledore, scan the surroundings immediately. The enemy is very close, but they don't seem to have discovered us yet. This is a good opportunity; see if you can intercept the Zeon channel."

Eli watched the flashes streaking across the night sky one kilometer ahead, where bullets pierced the darkness.

At the same time, there was the sound of return fire from their own side.

In an instant, this once-tranquil jungle was engulfed in the flames of war.

"Karen, drive them off!"

"Understood!"

Karen immediately mobilized her Mobile Suit, advancing toward the eleven o'clock position, her 100mm machine gun firing continuously.

The Zaku on that side, seeing this, immediately pulled back and retreated, showing no intention of lingering.

"Don't pursue too deeply! Eledore, have you heard anything!"

After instructing Karen to maintain the status quo, Eli asked Eledore, who was already monitoring the frequencies, over the comms.

"I have, there's a strange whistling sound... I've tapped into their channel, transmitting it now!"

Suddenly, the communication channel went quiet, leaving only the audio shared by the Type 74 Hover Truck.

"East side... twenty-five kilometers... defensive perimeter established... protect the Apsalus!"

The commands from the Zeon side were heard by Eli and his team with crystal clarity; if the Zeon side knew this, not a single frontline commander would escape.

"Looks like something is coming."

Shiro Amada made his judgment, simultaneously operating his Mobile Suit to signal the Sanders unit to crouch down with him.

"Apsalus, a name I've never heard before. Perhaps a product of that secret factory?"

Shiro Amada said to Eli, both to confirm his own thoughts and to seek advice on the next move.

"Not sure, but for safety's sake, how about we ambush them right here?"

"Agreed."

The two with command authority reached a consensus, and the four Mobile Suits immediately dispersed, each finding a position to crouch and hide within the forest.

"Ugh, bb..."

Michel's voice calling out to his girlfriend echoed over the comms.

He was slowly climbing toward the Type 74 Hover Truck's mounted machine gun, wanting to serve as a gunner in the fight.

"Wait, Michel, we don't need that machine gun. Stay in the driver's seat and be careful. If anything goes wrong, take Eledore and retreat immediately."

Eli hurriedly stopped Michel's actions.

He remembered clearly that Michel, lacking combat experience, had failed to restrain himself and opened fire, exposing their position prematurely.

This time, Eli was determined to secure the Apsalus and certainly would not let such a thing happen again.

"Approaching from the east in about 40 seconds... this atmospheric pressure vibration, it's not the size of a Mobile Suit. And there's the sound of multiple aircraft... it's a very chaotic noise."

Eli frowned.

According to the original scenario, only the Apsalus and two escorting Dopp Fighters should have been flying over.

Eli settled his mind, forcing himself to cast the so-called plot aside.

This was reality; if he committed the error of empiricism, he would fall into an abyss from which there was no return.

Therefore, Eli did not face the situation with the attitude of dealing with mere Dopp Fighters, but instead kept his eyes on the sky with extreme caution.

It was only then that Eli noticed that this mountain range had suddenly become deathly silent.

It seemed the Zeon Forces had already drawn away the friendly units in this area, shifting the flames of war elsewhere, which explained the sudden silence.

However, this stillness did not last long.

The distinct engine roar of jet aircraft quickly approached from the east.

The bizarre silhouette of the planes came into view.

It was none other than the Zeon Forces' Dopp Fighters.

If anyone from the Federation had designed such a shape, they surely would have been dragged out and shot. Only the Zeon Forces, having spent their lives in space colonies without ever truly experiencing Earth, could accept such a fighter design.

"Let them pass."

Shiro Amada and Eli were the first to warn the others.

Hidden by the cover of trees and the night, the Dopp Fighters truly failed to spot Eli and his team.

Even when the wake turbulence from a Dopp Fighter blew away some of the leaves above Eli's head, he remained undetected.

"The big one is coming!"

Eledore's voice crackled over the comms.

"This size... it's a genuine reaper..."

Eledore then muttered, stunned.

"What?"

Karen was still confused, but soon, the true form of the Apsalus appeared within her line of sight!

It was no exaggeration to say that it looked like a moving mountain!

A man-made mountain of steel!

The speed of that mountain was not slow either; even at such a low altitude, it could close the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Shiro, Sanders, get ready! Karen, you take care of the fighters."

Eli stared intently at his screen, which precisely captured the appearance of the Apsalus.

Eli maneuvered his unit to raise the beam rifle he had prepared, aiming it at the underside of the Apsalus.

To be precise, at the massive disc on its bottom.

That was the Minovsky Craft flight system of the Apsalus; if he could destroy that, he could bring this behemoth crashing down.

"Now, fire!"

The moment the Apsalus flew over their heads, Eli issued the order.

Simultaneously, the instant the command left his lips, he pulled the trigger on his control stick.

Reflected in the machine, the Gundam Ground Type's beam rifle erupted with a slender, pink beam of light!

The beam surged straight toward the Apsalus, instantly startling the pilot inside into reflexively pulling the craft upward.

And it was that instinctive maneuver that saved her life.