"Boom!"
The blast wave swept around Eli's Gundam Ground Type.
Eli had been crouched down, suppressing the enemies ahead. The blast forced him to straighten up and retreat.
As he fell back, Eli noticed that he wasn't the only one under fire. All four Gundams had been targeted without exception.
Even a shell had struck the ground beside the Hover Truck.
Eli operated his Mobile Suit as he retreated, lowering it to shield the Hover Truck behind its shield.
"Where's that attack coming from?!"
Shiro Amada had grown accustomed to fighting in a gravity environment and had just scored a kill. He immediately asked about the situation.
Eledore had started calculating the data right away. Ignoring the damage the relentless bombardment and sonar were doing to his ears, he quickly identified the direction of the incoming fire.
It was coming from a hill, where a steady barrage was pinning the squad in place.
Eli could see the Zaku from the artillery position advancing toward them.
The shells hadn't caused any serious damage yet, but fighting Zakus in good condition under these circumstances would put even the Gundam Ground Types under considerable pressure.
"Spread out!"
"Everyone retreat!"
Eli and Shiro Amada issued their orders in quick succession. The four Mobile Suits and the Hover Truck immediately turned and headed away from the bombardment.
A frontal assault against that kind of firepower was out of the question.
Unfortunately, the position covered a stretch of road that was one of the Federation's most important supply routes.
They had to take it out.
As the special squad withdrew in good order, Eli glanced toward another direction.
There, if he remembered correctly, was a waterfall.
With Eli's intervention, Shiro Amada hadn't left the squad and met Kiki, the guerrilla girl.
After three months of fighting, Eli had mostly forgotten the details of the original story. But he still remembered that part.
After all, the scene of a man brazenly watching a girl bathe was memorable enough.
In any case, that area was the only route for a flanking attack. In other words, meeting the guerrillas was unavoidable.
Once they had regrouped in the rear and dismounted to discuss their plan, Eli put forward his idea.
"There are two cannons at the front of this position. A frontal assault is out of the question, so we'll attack from both sides. Second Lieutenant Amada and I will take a detour and launch an attack. We should be able to take them down."
Eli pointed to the map and voiced the plan Shiro Amada had proposed in the original story.
The difference was that he chose to go with Shiro Amada. After all, it was probably best to avoid getting captured when the guerrillas opened the cockpit hatch from the outside using the emergency handle.
"That area is where the guerrillas operate. Are you sure it's all right?"
Karen had no objections to the plan as a whole. Her only concern was that if they clashed with the guerrillas, Zeon would discover their plans.
"It'll be fine. At the end of the day, they're on Federation soil. If they're going to obstruct the Federation's efforts to reclaim its territory, then they can't blame us for being a little rough."
To be honest, Eli looked down on the guerrillas.
They claimed to be protecting their homes, but in practice, they relied on support from the Federation while obstructing its operations.
And they were of little use in the fight against Zeon.
Eli understood the local people's desire to protect themselves. That didn't make their actions obstructing the Federation acceptable.
Without lingering, Eli and Shiro Amada set out in their lightly equipped Gundam Ground Types, each carrying a 100mm Machine Gun, and headed along their planned route.
The two Gundam Ground Types made their way upstream without a hitch, until they came to the waterfall.
It really was a beautiful place, far from the fighting.
If he hadn't been on a mission, Eli might have taken a moment to enjoy the scenery.
But now, he only scanned the area once with his Mobile Suit's cameras. After confirming there were no signs of life, he continued forward.
"It's beautiful... Eli, is all of Earth this lovely?"
Shiro Amada, who was seeing scenery like this for the first time, couldn't help exclaiming as he followed Eli.
"I suppose so. This planet is beautiful by nature."
Eli said the words, but he didn't feel much about it.
Before coming here, he'd never seen anything beyond Earth. To him, the scenery seemed rather ordinary.
The cylindrical structure of the colony satellites, on the other hand, had fascinated him.
Still, the views of the colony satellites he'd seen in this world had far exceeded his expectations.
"That's nice. I wish my family could come to Earth and see it too... Ah, sorry..."
The beautiful view had made Shiro Amada a little more cheerful, and he'd ended up talking about his family.
Only then did Shiro Amada realize that Eli's family was probably long gone...
"It's all right. I'm sure they wanted to see Earth's beautiful scenery too."
Even though he'd come from another world and hadn't even met the family of the body he now inhabited, Eli still felt an ache of grief when he heard Shiro Amada say that.
This body had never forgotten the grief of losing its loved ones.
Their bodies had even been hurled down to Earth along with the Zeon Forces' colony, right there in Australia, right there in Sydney.
How could Eli not grieve?
"That's why the Zeon Forces' actions are unquestionably wrong. We have to drive them out and make them abandon their unrealistic ambitions."
To Shiro Amada, Eli's resolve was undeniably strong and admirable.
But...
For some reason, Aina's face flashed through Shiro Amada's mind once more.
A woman he'd spent no more than a few hours with.
"If there are good people in the Zeon Forces too, Eli, would you—"
"Quiet!"
Just as Shiro Amada was about to bring up another topic, Eli cut him off.
"What is it?"
Shiro Amada was well trained. At once, he moved his Mobile Suit into a guarded stance.
"Guerrillas ahead."
Eli also assumed a battle-ready stance.
Just then, the leaves at the top of a large tree ahead began to rustle, and several figures emerged from within.
At the very front stood an orange-haired girl, staring at the two Mobile Suits with undisguised disgust.
"What's the Federation Forces doing over here?!"
Before you continue