Capturing the Stronghold

Eli and Shiro Amada had not been waiting at the designated attack point for long before the sounds of continuous combat erupted from the front of the Zeon artillery position.

It was clear that Sanders and Karen had already launched their frontal assault.

"Let's move!"

"Right!"

There was no need for further exchange between the two; they immediately drove their units toward the summit.

Eli engaged the thrusters on his backpack, and propelled by a burst of flame, his unit leaped into the air, reaching the same elevation as the facilities on the hilltop.

He opened fire with both his 100mm machine gun and the 60mm Vulcan cannons in his chest, raining fire down upon the position.

This was an entirely asymmetrical battle. With the Zaku units already deployed to the front to intercept Karen and Sanders, the only things left in the base capable of threatening a mobile suit were the helicopters that had just taken off.

But those threats were quickly neutralized by Shiro Amada.

After his Gundam Ground Type dodged the rockets fired by the Zeon military's bizarre-looking helicopter, a few precise bursts from his 100mm machine gun sent the aircraft crashing down.

However, Shiro clearly recalled that there had been another helicopter just a moment ago.

He shook his head, pushed the thought aside, and strafed the warehouse with his machine gun, obliterating the ammunition depot.

With that, aside from the artillery turrets, the only things left active in the entire position were the infantry.

Facing the two Gundams rampaging through the base, most of the infantry could not organize an effective counterattack and could only scramble to flee.

Eli had just cleared out a warehouse when he saw the soldiers inside fleeing in a panic.

He hovered his finger over the multi-purpose launcher button on his control stick; one pull would unleash anti-personnel shrapnel to wipe them all out.

Yet, he hesitated.

"BOOM!"

At that moment, a handheld rocket exploded against the head of Eli's Gundam Ground Type.

As the flames of the explosion dissipated, Eli turned his unit to look.

To an outside observer, it would have appeared as if the eyes of the Gundam Ground Type flared to life, emerging from the smoke.

"Sieg Zeon!"

The soldier, who had mustered the courage to fire a rocket launcher at the Gundam, saw that the enemy had noticed him. Instead of fleeing, he stood tall, raised his right hand, and shouted his slogan.

Eli pulled the trigger.

A rain of shrapnel instantly engulfed the man.

Eli had no heart left to look at him; he turned his unit around to face the two artillery turrets.

"Finally, we're about to finish this."

Three hours of marching and ten minutes of fighting—Shiro Amada felt as though today had been incredibly long.

He aimed his unit at the artillery and prepared to pull the trigger.

"No, not yet."

Eli immediately countered Shiro's words, turning his unit around to fire a barrage toward the rear.

He remembered clearly that the "Tiger King" made his first appearance right about now!

Furthermore, he had a faint intuition that someone was approaching from behind.

His Newtype-like senses allowed him to detect the incoming enemy in advance.

Sure enough, two Zaku units suddenly charged out from the thicket behind Eli.

The two Zakus rushed toward Shiro and Eli respectively, clearly intending to drive the Gundams off the high ground so they could use the artillery to threaten the units below and stabilize the front line.

"Don't think you'll succeed!"

Eli did not back down, meeting the Zaku's strike at close range.

The Gundam Ground Type raised its small shield, intercepting the path of the Heat Hawk.

The Heat Hawk bit into the shield, carving an ugly scar into the metal.

But thanks to this, Eli found the breathing room to crouch and draw his beam saber from his calf.

The actuator motors in his left elbow joint whirred at full power, compressing the Zaku's range of movement.

As the opponent pulled back to regroup, Eli thrust his right-hand beam saber forward!

"Too obvious!"

A mature male voice came through the contact circuit, confirming Eli's suspicions while simultaneously easing his worries about Shiro Amada.

Having failed to land the strike, Eli did not pursue. Instead, he opened his arms, puffed out his chest, and unleashed a dense volley from his 60mm Vulcan cannons, forcing the opposing Zaku to retreat and shield itself with its shoulder armor.

The two sides fell into a stalemate.

But a stalemate on this high ground was destined not to last.

The Zaku, desperate to drive the enemy off the ridge, was the first to move, charging toward Eli.

It held a Heat Hawk in its right hand, while its left hand—at some point—had produced an MS-sized grenade, which it hurled toward the Gundam before it.

Eli did not dare to be arrogant; he maneuvered his mobile suit to retreat a few steps, making no attempt to destroy the grenade in mid-air.

After so many battles, his supply of Vulcan ammunition was running low, and there was no need to gamble on whether the remaining rounds could destroy it.

A temporary retreat allowed him to focus more attention on the incoming Zaku, preparing him to deal with the strike that was about to follow.

Seeing that his ploy had failed, the Zaku pilot had no choice but to press forward, swinging his Heat Hawk in a horizontal slash.

This time, Eli met the attack head-on, using his Beam Saber to parry the Zaku's Heat Hawk.

Judging solely by their appearances, the Zaku's bulkier frame seemed as though it should hold the advantage in a clash of blades.

In reality, however, the Zaku—despite having more room to exert force—was suppressed by the Gundam Ground Type, forced to watch as the Beam Saber slowly bore down upon it.

This was not a gap caused by piloting skill, but a simple disparity in power output.

The Zaku's fusion reactor had an output of 976kW, while the Gundam Ground Type boasted a full 1350kW.

Even as a stripped-down version of the Gundam, it still bore the name the Federation had pinned its hopes upon, possessing a performance gap that utterly crushed Zeon's mobile suits.

"What terrifying performance..."

The pilot of this Zaku, Norris Packard, could not help but marvel at the sheer power of his opponent's machine.

Although he had been stationed in this region for a long time, he had mostly remained within the base as a defensive force and rarely fought on the front lines.

This time, he was inspecting the occupied territory ahead of the launch of the experimental weapons project to ensure the stability of the test area.

He had not expected to suffer a setback the moment he actually engaged this machine called a Gundam.

It was no boast on Norris's part to say that he possessed exquisite skill as a pilot.

If even he could not deal with these Gundams while piloting a Zaku, then the other soldiers would find it even harder to accomplish such a feat.

Therefore, Lord Ginias's plan was essential—for the revival of the Sahalin family, and for the victory of Zeon.

Thinking this, Norris began to prepare for a retreat.