Threat

"What is the meaning of this?"

Norris struggled to parry a slash from Shiro Amada while simultaneously dodging a beam shot from Sanders nearby.

"My subordinates will hold off the enemy warship, and reinforcements in the form of MS will arrive shortly. As long as we hold out a little longer, there is still a chance we can overcome this crisis."

Ramba Ral was likewise facing the relentless pursuit of Amuro, and with one arm of his unit lost, he found it increasingly difficult to fend off the attacks.

It was only because the experimental Gouf Flight Type was capable of aerial maneuvers that Ramba Ral felt he hadn't been shot down already.

After dodging a beam shot while in mid-air, he turned his head to look in another direction.

On the horizon, a point of light was shimmering in the dark of night, drawing closer to their position.

It was the land-based hover battleship operated by his subordinates, a Gallop-class.

Although its firepower was not exceptional, it was at least capable of threatening a warship.

In this situation, there was no room for hesitation; he had to let them risk their lives to pin down White Base.

Furthermore, this Gallop was carrying three MS; it wasn't a large number, but it was one of the few chips Zeon had left to play.

"Whoosh!"

The shrill whistle of artillery shells cut across the battlefield, heading toward White Base, followed immediately by multiple Dopp fighters flying in from that direction to swarm the ship.

Watching White Base immediately deploy its anti-aircraft guns like a startled hedgehog, Ramba Ral felt a slight sense of relief.

At least he didn't have to worry about the Trojan Horse delivering a decisive blow to this battle.

Immediately afterward, he focused his attention back on the fight before him.

Fortunately, the Gatling Gun was integrated into the shield and could still be used.

Combined with a short segment of the Heat Rod, that was the entirety of the Gouf Flight Type's current armament.

However, more than that, what concerned Ramba Ral was another point—the turbofans and thrusters all over the body were gradually rising in temperature due to prolonged use.

If this stalemate continued, those turbofans would likely shut down due to overheating.

Once he fell back to the ground and lost his mobility advantage, that guy would certainly not let him off easily.

Looking down from a height at the Gundam's near-human face, Ramba Ral felt as if a shadow had been cast over his heart.

The White Devil, truly living up to its name.

However, compared to Ramba Ral, who still had the presence of mind to issue orders to his subordinates, Norris on the other side was completely unable to hold on.

After the unit marked '06' joined the battle, it immediately became the backbone of the operation.

Under Eli's close attention, Norris had no possibility of breaking away, forced to face the Beam Saber swung by the Gundam Ground Type with extreme caution.

At the same time, another Gundam Ground Type was not far away, providing cover and pursuit with constant long-range fire.

But compared to his own predicament, what concerned Norris most was the final Gundam Ground Type, which was already heading toward the core component of the Apsalus!

"Lady Aina!"

Seeing that Gundam Ground Type already placing its hand upon the Zaku that served as the core component, Norris widened his eyes and shouted urgently.

"Where are you looking at a time like this!"

Limited by the fact that MS cockpits only had front-facing screens, a pilot needed to rotate the head to see a wide-angle view in another direction.

Thus, Eli immediately judged that the enemy before him was focused on another "battlefield."

"Aina, come with me!"

"Let's leave this war together!"

"You shouldn't be staying inside something like this!"

From the very beginning, Shiro Amada's pleas for surrender had been ringing out over the comms.

Even if Eli could not understand the nature of the relationship the two had built over just a few hours, Eli knew clearly that he must not let Norris interfere with Shiro Amada's actions now.

Taking advantage of the moment Norris was distracted, Eli swung his Beam Saber down.

The target: the thruster engine on the back of the Gouf Flight Type!

"Shimatta!"

Norris immediately realized that his concern had led to a lapse in judgment, and he would inevitably have to pay a price for it.

Sure enough, even though he tried to mimic Ramba Ral's vector thrusting to dodge, Eli was equally prepared; the blade's trajectory shifted instantly, hacking into the outer side of the backpack that provided the Gouf's primary lift.

This strike did not hit the thruster nozzle directly, but it severed a stabilizer fin and then grazed the outer armor of the thruster backpack.

But Eli was not discouraged by this, and Norris did not rejoice.

Just as mentioned before, the current flight system was already unstable; even a few fragments of the broken casing being sucked into the interior were enough to cause a shutdown or even a meltdown.

Sure enough, the right thruster was the first to fail, and the bright blue stream of light it had been emitting flickered out.

After intermittently bursting with a few sparks, it stopped working entirely.

"It's not over yet!"

Under such dire circumstances, Norris actually slammed his foot down on the pedal once more.

The final thruster on the backpack erupted with light, providing lift to the Gouf once again!

Norris was gambling with the risk of his machine exploding, all to drive Shiro Amada away from Aina's side.

The Gouf Flight Type quickly reached the front of Shiro Amada's Gundam Ground Type, its Heat Saber already energized and glowing a brilliant orange-red!

But faster than Norris was the beam that pierced through the arm of the Gouf Flight Type, detonating a cloud of smoke right in front of it.

Yet, even after losing the means to finish off the Gundam Ground Type in one blow, and with his head split open from the previous explosion, Norris still ruthlessly pushed the control stick forward.

The massive feet, enlarged by the additional engines, kicked Shiro Amada—who was focused on persuading Aina—directly to the ground.

Immediately following this, Norris maneuvered his Gouf Flight Type to loom over him, using the machine's only remaining left arm to grab the head of the Gundam Ground Type.

Accompanied by the sound of the Gouf's joints groaning under the unbearable strain, the Gundam Ground Type was actually hoisted into the air.

This caused Eli, who had already raised his Beam Rifle, to freeze his movements.

"All of you, back off! Or does this guy's life mean nothing to you!"

Norris's thinning hair fell across his forehead as he activated the machine's external speakers to shout at everyone.

Norris considered himself a warrior, and under normal circumstances, he would never use such methods to threaten an opponent.

But to save Aina, Norris was willing to cast those principles aside.

"Get off the Apsalus, all of you!"

However, even as Norris threatened Eli and the others with a ferocious tone, he felt powerless inside.

The Gouf no longer possessed any means to threaten the Gundam Ground Type; its only remaining hand was merely holding the Gundam aloft.

Thus, he held the Gundam Ground Type in front of him, using it as a shield to force Eli and the others to hesitate.

This was undoubtedly the correct choice.

It was just that while Norris had considered the movements of Eli and his team and calculated the intentions of Shiro Amada, there was one person he had failed to account for.