At the Earth Alliance Forces' rear command headquarters
Hope, who was stationed at headquarters, received the latest intelligence from the front. After reading it, he gave the order without the slightest hesitation.
"Launch!"
Just two short words.
Yet they sent two hundred Vanguard Fighters into the sky, one after another.
The massive formation of fighters took shape in the air and flew toward the front.
At the front line
Felix, who was fighting, received a report from the rear command headquarters.
"Captain, according to the report from our scout hidden near the Earth Alliance Forces' base!
The Earth Alliance Forces have launched nearly two hundred Vanguard Fighters again. They're heading straight for your position."
"Order half the reserve force to deploy to the northern front!"
After learning the situation, Felix ordered half the reserve force to deploy without hesitation. Headquarters received the order and relayed Felix's plan to the troops.
At the command, the ready reserve force began taking off.
Fifty Ginns formed a squadron and flew forward.
At the front line
After issuing the order, Felix controlled his Ginn and dodged the fighter's attack. He raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun in the Ginn's hands and fired.
The Vanguard Fighter was struck with pinpoint accuracy as it maneuvered.
It exploded and broke apart in midair.
The Ginn lowered its gun and maneuvered right to evade an attack. The Heavy Assault Machine Gun rose again, and bullets once more poured from its muzzle.
A bullet streaked across the sky, heading straight for a Vanguard Fighter.
"Damn it!"
The Vanguard Fighter's pilot snarled.
By the time he tried to dodge, it was too late. He hadn't even completed his maneuver when the bullet pierced the fighter.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted in an instant, engulfing the pilot along with the Vanguard Fighter.
Watching the explosion's flames, Felix rapidly worked the controls. The Ginn responded to his movements, flipping upward in midair to evade bullets fired from all directions.
As it completed the flip, the Ginn pointed downward. Under Felix's control, it opened fire at several directions around it at incredible speed.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A string of explosions rang out all around.
In the space of a moment, several Vanguard Fighters were blown apart.
The Ginn finished its flip and leveled out. The nozzles of its Guul Thrusters flared, releasing tremendous thrust. In a short time, the Ginn's forward speed rapidly increased.
It raced toward the Vanguard Fighters ahead at incredible speed.
The Vanguard Fighter pilot stared at the approaching Ginn in terror, his hands moving frantically. The fighter's cannons kept firing as it maneuvered through the air to dodge.
The screen showed Felix the Vanguard Fighter's flight path in detail, and he worked out a way to attack.
The Ginn raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun in its hands.
Seeing the gun come up, the Vanguard Fighter's pilot tried to predict the attack that would follow.
Felix and the pilot were both making predictions, each wrestling with the other in a battle of wits. But in that contest, the pilot's prediction could not surpass Felix's.
The Ginn's Heavy Assault Machine Gun opened fire.
The bullets flew along the path Felix had envisioned.
The pilot's prediction was wrong. He tried to adjust, but it was too late. All he could do was watch as the bullet pierced the fighter.
He felt his body being swallowed by the explosion.
The Vanguard Fighter was blown apart.
Under Felix's control, the nozzles of the Guul Thrusters adjusted their angle. The Ginn spun around in place in midair, then maneuvered left to evade an attack.
A fighter came flying in while firing, and crossed paths with Felix's Ginn in the air.
The Ginn drew the Heavy Slash Blade at its waist and delivered a clean, decisive slash. The Vanguard Fighter exploded instantly.
After destroying the Vanguard Fighter, Felix swiftly pulled the Ginn away from the area. Just as he was about to attack again, a large number of missiles suddenly came flying toward him.
"Looks like the enemy's reinforcements!"
Looking at the missiles, Felix murmured.
He was about to attack with the Ginn when a voice came through the comms.
"Captain, we're here!"
Hearing the voice, Felix's lips curved slightly upward.
The next moment, he saw a mass of missiles fly in from behind him. They passed his Ginn and headed toward the incoming missiles.
The missiles collided, and an explosion like a wall of flames erupted across the sky.
"Captain, we're not too late, are we?"
"You're not. Just join the fight."
With a smile on his lips, Felix replied.
Once he finished speaking, the Earth Alliance Forces' Vanguard Fighter formation appeared beyond the wall of fire.
As soon as the formation arrived, the surviving Vanguard Fighters fighting in this airspace joined up with it. The Ginns battling the Earth Alliance Forces also linked up with the reinforcements!
For a brief moment, the sky fell silent.
The two armies faced off in midair!
On the ground
"What the hell are those air force bastards doing?"
Inside a tank, the gunner watched the scene in the sky and cursed. The tank commander heard him but said nothing.
"Commander, should we open fire?"
The gunner turned and asked.
The commander was about to order them to fire when the brief standoff in the air vanished without a trace.
Both sides moved at once, locking into battle again in that same stretch of sky.
"Ah! That was a great opportunity. It just didn't last long enough. If only it had lasted a little longer."
Watching the standoff end in an instant, the gunner sighed. As he did, he also grumbled that firing without radar really sucked.
In the air
Felix piloted his Ginn deeper into the battlefield, the Heavy Slash Blade gripped in its hand.
A single downward slash destroyed a fighter.
After the strike blew the fighter apart, the Ginn maneuvered in the air to dodge the attacks coming from behind. It turned around, then opened fire.
One shot hit the Vanguard Fighter with pinpoint accuracy and blew it apart.
After doing that, Felix spotted one of his subordinates in danger. He swung his gun around and fired the Heavy Assault Machine Gun again.
The high-speed bullet struck the Vanguard Fighter, saving his subordinate's life. As he did so, Felix maneuvered the Ginn into a flip to dodge the incoming attack.
The thrust from the Guul Thrusters' nozzles increased, and the Ginn shot off in one direction.
The Heavy Slash Blade was gripped in its hand.
They crossed paths in the air for an instant, and the Vanguard Fighter was torn in two. Its pilot had already died from that single slash. The two halves fell toward the ground, and the fighter exploded completely before reaching it.
The explosion drew no attention from Felix. He was controlling the Ginn through a series of successive maneuvers, dodging attacks fired from multiple directions.
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