The 100mm Machine Gun's barrage left the last Zaku with almost no chance to fight back.
It was no exaggeration to say that when the 100mm Machine Gun hit a Zaku, it could even punch straight through some of its thinner armor.
The Zaku's Rocket Launcher, meanwhile, could only inflict meaningful damage with a direct hit on the Ground Type's armor—but that still hadn't happened since the battle began.
That was because, although the Gundam Ground Type was an early production model, it was equipped with Lunar Titanium Alloy armor.
This special alloy, which could only be produced in low-gravity environments, had formidable defensive properties.
The prototype known as the Gundam owed its superior performance to components like these.
The Gundam Ground Type, on the other hand, had been built from parts that didn't meet Gundam specifications to meet the increasingly dire demands of the battlefield. Although it couldn't match the Gundam's overall performance, it was still beyond the reach of ordinary production models.
That performance gap was what gave Eli the confidence to lie in wait along this squad's patrol route alone, providing data to the rear.
It was even more evident in Eli's battle against the opposing Zaku squad leader, creating a hopeless situation for his enemy.
After several bullets struck the Zaku's shoulder shield, it broke off and flew away, no longer able to offer the machine any protection.
A man's faint roar rang in Al's ears.
Another rocket shot toward the Gundam Ground Type.
This time, Eli didn't dodge. He flung the small shield in his hand outward, and the rocket struck it in midair, stopping it in its tracks.
Thick black smoke immediately enveloped the Gundam Ground Type's upper body.
The enemy obviously wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.
The difference in armor made it clear that the Zaku couldn't win a shooting match against the Gundam Ground Type.
So, while the Gundam Ground Type's vision was obscured by smoke, the Zaku dropped its now-empty Rocket Launcher, drew a Heat Hawk from its rear waist, and fired its thrusters. Sparks burst from the boosters as it rapidly closed the distance.
Seated in the cockpit, Eli calmly watched the smoke displayed on the screen before him.
A faint electric flicker seemed to spark between his brows.
Eli knew this was a sign that the enemy was about to attack.
The Gundam Ground Type immediately stepped forward with its right leg and bent its knee slightly.
As he raised his left hand to guard himself, he reached his right hand toward his left knee.
The armor on the side of the Gundam Ground Type's left knee unfolded with its movement, ejecting the hilt of a Beam Saber from within.
Then Eli drove the Gundam Ground Type into the smoke and, with no visibility at all, drew the saber and swung it diagonally upward!
Though it had moved later, it struck first.
The Zaku had been the first to raise its right arm and swing its Heat Hawk down, yet now the Gundam Ground Type's cherry-pink Beam Saber sliced clean through the Zaku's right arm.
But Eli didn't let up. He drew back the Gundam Ground Type's left arm, clenched his fist, and thrust it straight forward as a makeshift melee weapon.
The blow struck the Zaku's head-mounted camera, knocking its entire head away.
The Gundam Ground Type held its left arm extended, while the Zaku crashed heavily to the ground.
Eli slowly lowered the machine's left arm.
Then the Beam Saber in its right hand lit up again, hovering above the Zaku's cockpit.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two muffled sounds rang out. The Zaku made one last attempt to fight back, launching the antipersonnel shot shells mounted on its legs into the air.
This weapon exploded at a high altitude, sending all the pellets inside raining down toward the ground to kill infantry.
Such an antipersonnel weapon couldn't possibly pierce the Gundam Ground Type's armor. But a warning of danger stirred once again before Eli's brow.
With that near-electric jolt, Eli didn't even look at the antipersonnel shells in the sky. Instead, he maneuvered the Gundam Ground Type to turn sideways.
A string of bullets immediately whizzed past in front of the Ground Type.
Following their trajectory, Eli looked toward the source and saw the Zaku Karen had taken down at the start.
The machine was still lying on its back, but its right arm was moving slowly and steadily, trying to aim at Eli and attack again.
Eli didn't hurry to stop the Zaku. Instead, he firmly drove the Beam Saber into the Zaku he had just knocked down.
Its life truly came to an end.
The Zaku's left arm, which it had already begun to raise in secret, fell limply to the ground like a human arm, kicking up a ring of dust.
Only after confirming there was no risk of detonating its nuclear reactor did Eli turn the machine toward the remaining Zaku, which was still trying to attack him with a Zaku Machine Gun.
The Gundam Ground Type strode forward, crushing the lush vegetation of the Southeast Asian rainforest as it slowly approached the enemy.
The Beam Saber hanging from its right hand sliced through the trees in its path.
The Zaku's pilot was furiously cursing himself, full of self-loathing.
Though he couldn't make out the words that kept ringing in his ears, Eli could tell that much.
Eli had made the Gundam Ground Type approach the Zaku slowly enough to give the pilot plenty of time to decide whether to surrender.
But even when the Gundam Ground Type stood right before the Zaku, its cockpit showed no sign of opening.
Eli raised the Gundam's Beam Saber and carefully lined it up with the Zaku's cockpit. After checking repeatedly to make sure he wouldn't damage the reactor, he thrust it down.
"Zeon really isn't the right side."
"Hey, Eli! You really are something!"
"How many Zeon bastards did you take out today?"
When Eli opened the Gundam Ground Type's cockpit and returned to the Earth Federation's Southeast Asia Field Base in automatic cruise mode, with a 100mm Machine Gun slung at its rear waist and a 180mm Cannon in its hand, his comrades on both sides greeted the returning warrior.
Eli braced himself with both hands and sat on the edge of the cockpit, which had opened like a tin can. He answered the people below one by one.
"I took out a whole squad. Didn't take much effort."
Eli rubbed the back of his head and laughed heartily. He even tossed a wild fruit he'd casually picked along the way to one of the 07th MS Team members.
The man caught it, thanked him, and bit into it without even washing it.
"By the way, Eli, big news broke while you were out. Over in North America, that little Zabi kid, Garma, died!"
"Hahahahaha!"
The people around them burst into laughter.
The front line had stabilized thanks to the early production Mobile Suits, and now there was even more good news: a member of Zeon's military command, and the child of its head of state, had been killed in action.
It was only natural that the soldiers fighting on the front lines would be heartened by this.
Eli was genuinely happy, too.
The 08th MS Team's leader was about to arrive.
And White Base was probably being pursued by Ramba Ral, fleeing toward the Pacific Ocean.
The gears of the world were turning.
Eli felt this keenly.
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