Not long after shooting down the Vanguard Fighter, Felix maneuvered the White Ginn to evade an attack. Thanks to its attitude-control thrusters, the White Ginn could dodge with extremely small movements.
After evading the attack, he turned to face the Vanguard Fighter and raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun in his hands. Before he could fire, the fighter maneuvered to dodge in midair.
As it moved, Felix anticipated its actions.
He fired!
The bullet tore through the air at several times the speed of sound.
Bang!
It pierced the Vanguard Fighter's rear thruster.
With its power gone, the fighter could no longer maintain high-speed flight. The pilot struggled to control it, trying to descend slowly and land safely.
Before he could make more than a few adjustments, another Ginn finished it off.
Felix was about to fire a follow-up shot, but when he saw someone else do it first, he turned the White Ginn toward the other enemies.
"Captain, our energy is draining fifty percent faster than it does in space."
Over the comms,
Heine reported the situation to Felix.
Felix already understood what was happening. After all, the Ginn had been designed as a space-use mobile suit, and its weight alone meant that it consumed twice as much energy on Earth.
"I know. Once we repel this wave of enemies, we'll have a chance to catch our breath and equip the Guul Flight Support Crafts."
Felix replied to Heine over the comms.
Then he squeezed the trigger, and the Heavy Assault Machine Gun opened fire.
With the trajectory correction and Felix's predictive aim, the bullets struck the flying Vanguard Fighter with precision.
After blowing it apart, the White Ginn maneuvered to dodge an incoming attack, then turned and fired.
Another precise shot rang out.
The Vanguard Fighter that had just aimed at Felix and opened fire was blown apart.
With that fighter destroyed, the enemy interceptors at an altitude of ten thousand meters had been completely wiped out.
The Drop Pods carrying the Guul Flight Support Crafts opened at that moment. The intelligent systems aboard the Guul completed their automatic startup sequence.
The Laser Radars mounted on the Guul scanned the airspace. After processing the results and cross-referencing them with their databases, each Guul maneuvered toward a descending Ginn on its own.
The Ginn stepped onto the foothold on the Guul's back.
The Ginn and Guul connected. Seated in the cockpit, Felix smiled faintly and thought,
At this rate, only PLANT could manage development and production. I never would've imagined it in my previous life.
"Some of you stay behind to guard the Neutron Jammer. The rest, mount up on the Guul and descend quickly. Take out the air force at Victoria Spaceport!"
Felix issued the order over the comms.
At his command, more than a hundred Ginn split into two groups. Twenty or thirty surrounded the Neutron Jammer to defend it, while the rest followed the White Ginn and continued their descent.
They descended lower and lower, soon reaching an altitude of around ten thousand meters.
The two forces clashed again!
They opened fire in an instant!
Under Felix's control, the White Ginn rode the Guul and maneuvered to dodge the incoming attacks, then fired its Heavy Assault Machine Gun.
Two bullets flew out. One served as a distraction, while the other struck a Vanguard Fighter.
Watching the explosion flare, Felix piloted the White Ginn and its Guul swiftly through the battlefield.
The Guul's vector thrusters and attitude-control thrusters let Felix deftly dodge every bullet coming his way.
He pressed a button!
The missiles mounted on the Guul launched.
Equipped with infrared and thermal tracking, the missiles swiftly maneuvered through the air toward the Vanguard Fighters.
The pilot of the fighter being pursued saw the display on the screen, his expression twisting with alarm. He cried out in confusion,
"Why can ZAFT's missiles track their targets normally?"
Still baffled, he maneuvered to evade and released flares.
The heat sources on the flares interfered with the missile's tracking, throwing it off course. One of the Vanguard Fighters that had come to help shot it down.
With the threat gone, the fighter that had been saved coordinated with the one that had come to its rescue, along with another Vanguard Fighter approaching from a different direction.
The three fighters formed up and headed for Felix, their onboard cannons firing at the White Ginn.
Felix worked the controls as the Guul carried the White Ginn, dodging each attack. The White Ginn raised its arm and fired its Heavy Assault Machine Gun.
The bullets shattered the formation of the three Vanguard Fighters.
Then another burst of fire brought one of them down.
After blowing that fighter apart, Felix turned his gaze to the other two. He raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun, and bullets poured from its barrel.
The first bullet was evaded with a maneuver. The second struck the fighter's rear propulsion system with pinpoint accuracy.
The propulsion system exploded, and the Vanguard Fighter instantly lost power. Its uncontrolled fuselage plummeted toward the ground.
Before Felix could fire a follow-up shot, another Ginn got there first and blew up the fighter.
Felix turned his attention to the other Vanguard Fighters.
"Too many monks, too little rice!"
Looking at the situation on the battlefield, Felix wore a teasing smile and made a wry remark.
As he spoke, the White Ginn fired its Heavy Assault Machine Gun.
One shot blew apart a distant Vanguard Fighter.
While Felix and the others were eliminating the enemy, Vanguard Fighters taking off from other airfields were rushing toward the battle over Victoria Spaceport.
Meanwhile,
in the Eurasian Federation capital,
at the government office building,
inside the president's office,
"Have you still been unable to contact Victoria Spaceport?"
The Eurasian Federation president looked up at the government staff member who had entered. His expression grave, he asked,
The staff member looked at the president with helpless disappointment and shook his head.
"Mr. President, we still haven't been able to reach them."
He went on,
"Based on our current analysis, ZAFT may have used equipment like what they deployed during the Battle of the World Tree. It would have crippled communications around Victoria Spaceport, preventing us from establishing radio contact with them. Victoria Spaceport would be unable to reach us by radio, either."
"If we can't establish communications, find another way to contact Victoria Spaceport."
The president looked at him and gave the order.
The staff member straightened up and replied,
"Yes, sir!"
Looking at him, the president continued,
"How are the reinforcements coming along?"
"Our aircraft carrier fleets in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean have already set course for Africa. Forces in other areas are also on the move."
Before you continue