Second Spaceport Defense Battle (3)

To shoot down this fighter, Felix maneuvered the Ginn through the air, banking left to evade an attack. He raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun in the Ginn's hands and opened fire on the target ahead.

The two incoming Vanguard Fighter units dodged the bullets.

Just as he prepared to continue his barrage, the Ginn's movements proved a step faster.

BOOM! BOOM!

Two explosions erupted ahead.

Amidst the flames, the Vanguard Fighter pilot was consumed by the blast.

Eyes shifting, the Ginn followed Felix's inputs to maneuver. Dodging a relentless stream of incoming fire, the Guul thrusters on its back flared with immense thrust, propelling the Ginn forward.

Felix evaded the incoming fire with pinpoint precision.

As they flew, the distance to the Vanguard Fighter squadron ahead closed rapidly.

"Everyone, scatter!"

A fighter squadron leader commanded over the comms.

Following the order, he was the first to maneuver his Vanguard Fighter.

Watching the Vanguard Fighters' movements, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Felix's mouth as his finger tightened on the trigger. The Ginn raised its Heavy Assault Machine Gun, and bullets erupted from the barrel.

Ten shots fired in an instant.

Each of the ten bullets traced a different trajectory, flying toward separate targets.

"Bastard!"

A Vanguard Fighter pilot cursed as he saw the incoming rounds. He gripped the control stick, forcing his Vanguard Fighter into an emergency maneuver.

"Damn it! Where are you maneuvering to?"

Mid-maneuver, a comrade's angry voice crackled over the comms. Glancing at his screen, the Vanguard Fighter pilot broke into a cold sweat; that last maneuver had nearly caused a mid-air collision with his ally.

Fortunately, his comrade had adjusted his own Vanguard Fighter's flight path at the last second, preventing the two from crashing into each other.

"Sorry!"

"Next—"

Before he could finish his apology, his comrade's voice cut through the comms. But before the sentence could be completed, it dissolved into static.

Through the static and the screen, he saw the Ginn piloted by Felix appear at his side, a Heavy Slash Blade gripped in its hand. His comrade's Vanguard Fighter had already turned into a ball of fire, shattering into fragments that rained toward the ground.

Terror filled his eyes; he couldn't utter a word, his hands moving on instinct without waiting for his brain to command them.

But his maneuvering speed was no match for the Ginn's movements.

The Ginn raised its Heavy Assault Machine Gun, the muzzle flashing as a bullet tore from the chamber.

Under his horrified gaze, the bullet struck his fighter at several times the speed of sound. The fighter's armor stood no chance against the projectile's immense kinetic energy, and it was shredded in an instant.

Behind the shredded fighter, he was shredded as well.

Blood sprayed the cockpit, the heat of the explosion vaporizing the gore. In the end, nothing remained of the pilot within the inferno.

Perhaps the only thing left to prove his identity was his dog tag, falling toward the ground alongside the fragments of the Vanguard Fighter.

Having finished off that one, the Ginn maneuvered through the air.

Left, back, a series of aerial rolls performed under Felix's expert control; each maneuver served to dodge incoming attacks.

While performing these evasive actions, the Ginn's Heavy Assault Machine Gun continued to fire.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

The crisp, melodic sound of gunfire, reminiscent of a piano recital, echoed through the sky.

The muzzle flashed incessantly, bullets flying out one after another.

Only after the gunfire did the loud, successive explosions follow. The blasts bloomed in the sky like fireworks, and in their wake, metal fragments rained down toward the ground.

"Bastard! I'll kill you!"

Watching his subordinates fall before his eyes, the fighter squadron leader's eyes turned bloodshot, his face twisted in rage as he roared. He drove his Vanguard Fighter straight toward the Ginn piloted by Felix.

Seeing the fighter charging in with guns blazing on his screen, Felix maneuvered the Ginn to dodge the attack, raising the Heavy Assault Machine Gun to return fire as he evaded.

To Felix's slight surprise, the guy actually dodged his precisely calculated shot.

"Not bad!"

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as Felix murmured to himself.

The Ginn ceased fire with the Heavy Assault Machine Gun, focusing instead on dodging the autocannon rounds fired by the Vanguard Fighter.

He watched as the distance between the Vanguard Fighter and himself closed.

Sidestepping the man's suicidal charge, he raised the Heavy Slash Blade and delivered a clean, decisive strike against the Vanguard Fighter.

The nose of the craft was instantly severed from the fuselage.

The Vanguard Fighter split in two and plummeted toward the ground.

The fuselage exploded as it fell.

Inside the cockpit:

"Damn it, why won't it work?"

He pulled the ejection handle to escape, only to find the mechanism unresponsive. Enveloped by anxiety and terror, the cockpit continued its descent toward the ground.

The few hundred meters of altitude vanished in an instant.

The cockpit slammed into the ground with a heavy thud; the immense impact shattered the frame instantly, and he perished the moment it broke apart.

High above, Felix piloted his Ginn, weaving through the attacks of the Vanguard Fighters, dodging strike after strike while his Heavy Assault Machine Gun opened fire again and again.

One Vanguard Fighter after another was shot down.

Inside a tank on the ground, the commander watched the battle above, his eyes fixed on the Ginn piloted by Felix.

"That Ginn is clearly performing differently from the others!"

He muttered, having sensed something amiss.

He then ordered the gunner, "Open fire on that Ginn."

"Yes, sir!"

The gunner replied, rotating the turret and elevating the barrel once more.

The turret tracked its target continuously.

"Commander, this guy is too agile; I can't get a lock on him at all."

After several failed attempts, the gunner reported back in frustration. The commander pondered this for a moment, then suddenly realized something and reported to the temporary commander.

"Commander, I have something to report!"

"Speak!"

The commander's voice crackled over the comms.

The tank commander reported, "Commander, I suspect that white MS from ZAFT may have changed its paint job to match the standard colors, blending in with the regular MS to strike at us!"

After saying this, he shared the identified target with the commander. The commander verified the data and replied over the comms.

"Your theory makes a lot of sense; I've also noticed the differences in this MS."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I will report this to headquarters immediately and have them deploy the reserve forces."