Before Eli and Shiro Amada had to wait long at their designated attack point, the sounds of continuous fighting came from the front of the Zeon artillery position.
Sanders and Karen must have launched their frontal assault.
"Let's go!"
"Right!"
They exchanged no more words. Both immediately drove their Mobile Suits toward the summit.
Eli even activated the nozzles on his backpack. Propelled by a burst of light, his Mobile Suit leaped into the air and rose level with the installations atop the hill.
He opened fire with the 100mm Machine Gun, and the 60mm Vulcan Cannon in his chest joined in, raining shots down on the position.
It was a completely one-sided battle. With the Zaku already sent to meet Karen's and Sanders's Mobile Suits head-on, the only threat to their Mobile Suits inside the base was the helicopter that had just taken off.
But Shiro Amada quickly dealt with that threat.
The Gundam Ground Type he piloted dodged a rocket fired by the Zeon Forces' bizarre-looking helicopter. A few short bursts from his 100mm Machine Gun were all it took to shoot the helicopter down.
Still, Shiro Amada was sure there had been another helicopter earlier.
He shook his head and gave it no further thought. Then he swept his machine gun across a warehouse, destroying the ammunition depot inside.
With that, aside from the artillery emplacements, the only ones still able to move throughout the position were the infantry.
Faced with two Gundams wreaking havoc across the position, most of the infantry couldn't organize an effective counterattack and could only flee in every direction.
Eli had just taken out a warehouse when he saw the soldiers inside scrambling to escape.
He held his finger above the Multi-Purpose Launcher button on the control stick. One press would unleash anti-personnel buckshot and kill every one of those soldiers.
Yet he still seemed hesitant.
Boom!
At that moment, a single-soldier rocket exploded against the head of Eli's Gundam Ground Type.
As the flames faded, Eli turned his machine to look.
To an outside observer, the Gundam Ground Type's eyes would have appeared to shine through the smoke.
"Long live Zeon!"
The soldier had mustered the courage to fire a rocket launcher at the Gundam. When the enemy noticed him, he didn't try to flee. Instead, he boldly raised his right hand and shouted the slogan.
Eli pulled the trigger.
A rain of buckshot engulfed the man.
Eli had no desire to keep watching. He turned his machine around to face the two artillery turrets.
"At last, we can finish this."
Three hours of marching, ten minutes of fighting. Shiro Amada couldn't help feeling that the day had dragged on forever.
He aimed his machine at the artillery emplacements and was about to pull the trigger.
"No. Not yet."
Eli immediately contradicted Shiro Amada. He turned his machine around and fired a burst toward the rear.
He clearly remembered that this was the "Tiger King's" first appearance!
What's more, he had a vague feeling that someone was approaching from behind.
His Newtype senses let him detect the approaching enemy in advance.
Sure enough, two more Zaku suddenly burst from the trees behind Eli.
They charged separately at Shiro Amada and Eli, clearly hoping to drive the Gundams off the high ground. That would let them use the artillery to threaten the Mobile Suits below again and stabilize the front line.
"You won't get away with it!"
Eli met the Zaku's strike head-on, refusing to back down.
The small shield on the Gundam Ground Type's left arm came up, intercepting the path of the Heat Hawk's swing.
The Heat Hawk struck the shield, carving an ugly gash into it.
But the brief opening gave Eli a moment to crouch and draw the Beam Saber from his lower leg.
The field motors in his left elbow joint ran at full power, restricting the Zaku's movement.
Then, just as the enemy pulled back and tried to regain its footing, Eli thrust out with the Beam Saber in his right hand!
"Too obvious!"
A mature male voice came through the contact circuit. It confirmed Eli's suspicions and put his concerns for Shiro Amada to rest.
Eli didn't pursue after his attack failed. Instead, he moved both arms aside and thrust out his chest. The 60mm Vulcan Cannon immediately unleashed a dense barrage, forcing the Zaku facing him to retreat and shelter behind its shoulder shield.
For a moment, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.
But a stalemate on this high ground couldn't last.
Desperate to drive the enemy off the ridge, the Zaku made the first move and charged Eli.
It held a Heat Hawk in its right hand, while in its left it had somehow produced an MS hand grenade and hurled it at the Gundam before it.
Eli didn't dare take chances. He drove his machine back several steps, making no attempt to shoot the grenade out of the air.
After all the fighting, the Vulcan Cannon's ammunition was running low. There was no point gambling on whether the rounds he had left could destroy it.
A brief retreat let him focus more of his attention on the approaching Zaku and prepare for the attack to come.
Seeing that his trick had failed, the Zaku had no choice but to press forward anyway, swinging its Heat Hawk in a horizontal slash.
This time, Eli advanced to meet it, blocking the Zaku's Heat Hawk with his Beam Saber.
At a glance, the Zaku's bulkier frame seemed to give it the advantage in this clash of blades.
In reality, though, despite having more room to apply force, the Zaku was being overpowered by the Ground Type. It could only watch as the Beam Saber slowly pressed toward it.
The difference wasn't due to piloting skill. It was simply a matter of power.
The Zaku's nuclear reactor produced 976 kW, while the Gundam Ground Type had a full 1,350 kW.
Even this stripped-down Gundam, bearing the name in which the Federation had placed such high hopes, had a crushing performance advantage over Zeon Mobile Suits.
"What terrifying performance..."
The Zaku's pilot, Norris Packard, couldn't help marveling at the enemy machine's power.
He had been stationed in this region for a long time, but most of that time had been spent at the base as part of its defensive force. He had rarely fought on the front lines.
This time, he had come to inspect the occupied territory because the weapons testing plan was about to begin, ensuring the test area remained secure.
He hadn't expected to suffer such a disadvantage when he actually fought this machine called the Gundam.
Norris wasn't bragging when he said that, as a pilot, he had already mastered his craft.
If even he couldn't defeat these Gundams with a Zaku, then the other soldiers would have even less chance.
So Lord Ginias's plan was essential—for the revival of the Sahalin family and for Zeon's victory.
Thinking this, Norris prepared to retreat.
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