Gravity Front

After confirming that Ramba Ral had already departed White Base, Bright had no choice but to order the entire ship to stand down from internal alert and return to the battle at hand.

Eli also returned to the hangar, beginning to prepare for combat.

At this moment, Sayla, who had just returned, sought out Eli.

"Ramba Ral... did he get away?"

Sayla was clearly nervous, her fingers twisting together as she questioned Eli, who was preparing to board his machine.

Seeing her reaction, Eli already had the answer to his previous question.

It was clearly not she who had leaked the intelligence; otherwise, given Sayla's personality, she would have calmly maintained her composure.

She would not be as worried about Ramba Ral's safety as she was now.

"Yes, he escaped. We couldn't catch him."

Eli sighed, relaying the situation to her after covering his tracks.

After all, he could not reveal that he knew the other party's identity at this time, so telling her about the pact between himself and Ramba Ral was unrealistic.

"Is that so? That's good... ah, no, I mean, it's good that you're safe."

Having nearly let something slip, Sayla crossed her arms over her chest again, both to cover her mistake and to sincerely add that final remark.

"Also, did you completely forget about me? If it's just piloting a Core Fighter to make contact, I think I'm capable of that too. Why risk yourself?"

As if to mask her concern for Eli, Sayla quickly added this in a chiding tone.

"Are you really sure? I recall that, aside from Amuro, you were the most resistant to White Base carrying out military missions."

Eli looked at Sayla, who was volunteering, testing her attitude.

How could Eli not have considered that Sayla was capable of this task? It was just that, firstly, he was considering her own thoughts, and secondly, this mission could hardly be called easy.

Do not forget that the Dopp squadron had not suffered heavy losses; as soon as a Core Fighter took off, Zeon would not be foolish enough to miss the chance to dispatch Dopps for interception.

Eli explained this situation to Sayla.

"It doesn't matter. My hatred for war was my own thought, and now, getting into a Core Fighter is also my own thought. People change, you should know that better than anyone, right?"

Sayla smoothed her hair, making the strands that had been disheveled by her pilot helmet look smoother.

Then, she noticed Eli staring at her the entire time.

Her face flushed, and the words of rebuke were almost on the tip of her tongue.

"Stay safe, and protect yourself."

Just like a short while ago, Eli said this to Sayla.

The concern in his words did not sound fake in the slightest.

"I, you..."

Sayla's face turned even redder, and she had to pull her hair slightly in front of her face to hide her agitation.

Eli found this woman, who possessed a tough exterior but a very soft heart, somewhat amusing. He turned, waved his hand, and stepped onto the boarding rope.

"My safety and Amuro's are tied to you, so you absolutely must not die."

As he was pulled upward by the boarding rope, Eli called out to Sayla, who remained standing there holding her face.

When he sat down in the cockpit, Amuro, who had been waiting in the Gundam, sent a communication.

"Then let us depart together, Mr. Eli."

"You too, make sure you survive, Amuro."

At this point, Eli no longer insisted that Amuro stay out of danger.

Since Amuro had made such a resolution, all Eli had to do was fight hard and bring both himself and Amuro back.

"Eli Li, Gundam Ground Type, sortie!"

The Ground Type, having boarded the catapult, immediately launched from White Base at top speed, hurtling toward the exit of the canyon!

Following closely behind was the Gundam piloted by Amuro.

For this sortie, Eli had not equipped the small shield typically paired with the Gundam Ground Type, but rather the standard Gundam shield.

Thanks to this, while still in the air before landing, he blocked several rockets, allowing him to land successfully!

And after Eli landed, several beams struck from the sky, picking off those Zaku units.

It was Amuro, who had landed right beside Eli.

Without any exchange, the two moved forward, providing cover for one another.

When they encountered armored units like Dopps or Magella, Eli dealt with them using his 100mm Machine Gun, and only when they encountered Mobile Suits did he deploy his Beam Rifle.

With the help of the terrain, the two were able to hold their ground despite being surrounded.

But even so, looking out, one could only see the light of artillery fire everywhere.

Just from what they could confirm now, there were over a dozen Mobile Suits guarding their path.

Although the Lunar Titanium Alloy armor was tough enough to ignore the vast majority of artillery fire, the tremors caused by the explosions would not simply vanish into thin air.

If they were to face a massive barrage of fire in a short period, the sheer vibration alone would be enough to shake the two of them to death right here.

"Eli, can you hear me? I've finally made contact with the Big Tray-class; please send the artillery coordinates!"

Just as the two were being pinned down by the heavy fire, unable to even lift their heads, the communication from Sayla finally rang out.

"Understood, the coordinates are..."

Eli, who had been waiting, immediately transmitted the coordinate data, which was then relayed through the Core Fighter to the Big Tray-class further in the distance.

Eli poked his head out, used his Beam Rifle to pick off a Gouf that was closing in, and then maneuvered his Mobile Suit back down to lie flat against the hillside.

"Whoosh!"

The distinct, high-pitched whistle of incoming shells arrived instantly, throwing the Zeon positions into immediate disarray!

To be honest, Eli was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected Sayla to break through the Dopp interception and establish contact with the main force so quickly.

"Regardless, well done, Sayla!"

Eli cheered, maneuvered his Mobile Suit to stand up, and charged forward!

What needed to be done now was to tear a hole in the defensive line to facilitate the passage of White Base.

As long as they punched through the entire front line and linked up with the Federation, the Federation would be able to drive straight in along the path they had carved, inevitably seizing victory!

"Whoosh!"

However, the whistling sound of falling shells came again.

This time, the impact point was on the mountain itself!

Clearly, this was an attack launched by the enemy.

"I see it, Mr. Eli, it's a Zeon Dabude-class!"

"What? It's that close... Sayla, don't be reckless, leave it to me..."

Upon hearing Sayla say this, Eli was immediately overcome with anxiety and prepared to maneuver his Ground Type to charge across the front.

He was terrified that Sayla might act on impulse and launch an attack on the Dabude-class with her Core Fighter.

"No, there's no need. Just now, a... Guntank? It charged up at high speed and self-destructed against that Dabude-class..."

Sayla was clearly saddened by what she had just witnessed.

In her eyes, that was a heroic sacrifice made by an ally to cover White Base.

"What?"

Eli was stunned, hearing a description that felt strangely familiar.

I quite like the design of this Assault Guntank; its combat record is fierce, and it took out who knows how many MS by the time the three units charged all the way to the Dabude-class. It's a pity the Federation eventually abandoned this model; otherwise, it might have become the main force on land, especially since the massive Type 61 Tank Unit would have been accustomed to such a large tank.