"What mobility!"
Watching the three Mobile Suits easily dodge one barrage after another on the screen, Bright was instantly consumed by anger.
"Take aim before firing! We have to keep them outside the defensive perimeter!"
"Boom!"
As soon as Bright finished speaking, the Guncannon, which had stayed on the deck at Eli's suggestion, opened fire. Its 240mm shells streaked toward the three Mobile Suits!
The shells traced a parabolic arc straight toward the black Mobile Suit dodging the White Fortress's Vulcan Cannon barrage.
Despite its incredible speed, the Mobile Suit managed to change direction at the last moment, immediately escaping the blast radius.
These Mobile Suits were simply too quick on the ground. Since the battle began, they had barely managed to land any effective attacks.
They were like Hover Trucks racing at top speed.
"So they're Doms..."
Eli, who had maneuvered the Gundam Ground Type in front of the three Mobile Suits, immediately recognized what they were.
Three Doms... Could they be the Black Tri-Stars?
Eli looked tense.
He had already fought skilled pilots like Norris and Ramba Ral, but the Black Tri-Stars, whose strength lay in their teamwork, were in a league of their own.
They had even pushed Amuro into danger.
"Amuro, take this."
Eli maneuvered his Mobile Suit to hand the Beam Rifle to the Gundam piloted by Amuro.
Now the Gundam held a Beam Rifle in each hand.
The White Base was different from the rainforest. Even if a Beam Rifle malfunctioned or broke, they could fix it right away, so Eli had chosen it as his main weapon.
"What about you?"
Amuro took the Beam Rifle and asked Eli.
"The 100mm Machine Gun will do. Amuro, support me from behind. Once I hold one of them off, open fire and take it down."
This was extremely dangerous.
A shot from a beam weapon could easily set off the Mobile Suit's nuclear reactor.
If that happened, Eli would have no chance of survival at such close range.
"How can you say that? It's too dangerous..."
"It's fine. I trust you, Amuro."
As Eli fired up his thrusters and leaped forward to intercept the enemy, some of the resentment Amuro had harbored over Eli insisting that he pilot the Gundam began to fade.
Eli, unaware that Amuro's attitude toward him had already changed, was now breathing a sigh of relief.
At close range, he could sense that one of the three approaching Doms was familiar.
Ramba Ral.
That meant they weren't the Black Tri-Stars after all.
As their name suggested, the Tri-Stars excelled at coordinated attacks. Combined with the Doms' high mobility, they could easily overwhelm someone on their first encounter.
Even if it was Ramba Ral, Eli couldn't afford to let his guard down. But at least he wouldn't be hacked to pieces by three Mobile Suits and die with regrets.
While still in the air, Eli took the opportunity to draw his Beam Saber, but didn't ignite it. He simply held it in his hand.
Meanwhile, his left hand kept firing the 100mm Machine Gun.
Bullets struck the stony, desertified soil of the mining site, kicking up clouds of dust.
Eli wasn't surprised when his attacks missed.
But he had to keep firing.
Only by preventing the Doms from building up speed could he maneuver between the three of them.
Eli kept his eyes fixed on the Dom piloted by Ramba Ral.
That considerate commander always led from the front, so he was usually the first to attack.
Just as expected, Ramba Ral's Dom accelerated first, firing the Rocket Launcher in his hands at Eli's Gundam Ground Type!
Just before a rocket hit, the Gundam Ground Type made a short hop to the left and dodged it. When it landed, Eli saw the Dom had drawn its Heat Saber and was already racing across the terrain on its hover engines!
Watching the Dom charge at him while firing its Rocket Launcher, Eli flashed a sinister grin.
The Dom might look like it was simply charging straight ahead, but this Mobile Suit had a particularly underhanded trick for close combat.
The Diffuse Beam Cannon in its chest.
It was called a cannon, but Zeon's beam weapon research wasn't advanced enough yet. In close combat, it effectively served as a flashbang.
That was why, as the Dom charged, it deliberately held its Heat Saber low at its right side and cradled the Rocket Launcher in its left arm.
The idea was to catch the enemy off guard and blind them!
But a flashbang? The Gundam Ground Type was even better at that!
After a few more exchanges of fire, they were about to enter close-combat range.
When the Dom suddenly lowered its Rocket Launcher, slowed slightly, and lifted its chest, Eli immediately pulled back on the control stick and shut his eyes.
Sure enough, the screen was engulfed by a blinding white light the next moment.
At that very moment, Eli also pulled the trigger.
"Thump!"
A duller sound than a gunshot or cannon blast rang out.
The Gundam Ground Type's Multi-Purpose Launcher had fired a flashbang!
"Argh!"
Ramba Ral's eyes stung from the blinding light.
Since he was the one using a flash weapon to attack, he had naturally closed his eyes before firing the Diffuse Beam Cannon, then opened them right away to seize the advantage.
But he hadn't expected his opponent to throw a flashbang too. Ramba Ral had opened his eyes at exactly the wrong moment and took the full force of it.
"So we had the same idea!"
Ramba Ral didn't realize that Eli had been prepared for this all along. The only explanation he could think of was that his opponent had also realized this trick could give him an edge in close combat.
He forced his eyes open and saw that the Gundam Ground Type had already charged right up to him!
The Beam Saber in its hand ignited.
Caught off guard, Ramba Ral hurriedly raised the Heat Saber in his right hand to block.
"Zzz... Ramba Ral, is it? You've really gone to a lot of trouble following me all the way here."
"And you're as persistent as ever. Did you crawl out of the jungle?"
During their earlier hit-and-run attacks, they had already confirmed that this Gundam Ground Type had boarded the Trojan Horse.
That had made the already troublesome Trojan Horse even more dangerous. Quite a few of Ramba Ral's men had also died at this pilot's hands.
For a moment, the two of them remained locked in a stalemate.
Once again, they were thinking alike.
They were both waiting for their teammates to come to their aid.
Given the Doms' speed, it wouldn't be long before the other two surrounded this mass-produced Gundam.
But no matter how fast a Mobile Suit was, could it really outrun a beam?
A rose-pink beam shot from behind the Gundam Ground Type, skimmed past its head, and struck the Dom!
Before you continue