'Time Observer' Battles the Three Little Heroes

As Luther approached Rau Le Creuset—who was closing in while Luther "muttered to himself"—he felt the malice radiating from the CGUE, a sensation as clear as day to him. Facing this, Luther unleashed his full power without hesitation:

Not only did he use his bio-sensor helmet to withstand the mental pressure, but he also launched all 12 of his funnels while simultaneously pouring his remaining strength into wielding the Zaku machine gun, attempting to restrict the movement of the CGUE piloted by Rau Le Creuset.

However, Rau Le Creuset, the "final boss" of the original timeline, was no weakling. Even when faced with a powerful Newtype like Luther piloting the Newtype-specialized Time Observer in an all-out, omnidirectional assault, he relied on his intuition and the experience gained from his skirmishes with Mu to execute evasive maneuvers. At the cost of one of the CGUE's arms and legs, he stubbornly survived the first wave of attacks.

Then, Rau Le Creuset made what was, in essence, the most correct tactical decision.

Disregarding the fact that he had yet to fire a single shot since launching;

Ignoring that with the other mobile weapons from the Gwameir dispersed on their own missions, the entire Rau Le Creuset team was effectively only dealing with Luther's single Time Observer;

He chose to use the remaining limbs of his battered CGUE to execute a precise, high-mobility turn, then pushed his thrusters to the limit and fled.

Luther was naturally furious, having not expected his attempt at a "first-strike" solo sortie to result in a failed "lure."

However, constrained by the technical limitations of his funnels, the 12 units he had fired were currently returning to recharge. With only the Zaku machine gun, Luther lacked the confidence to shoot down Rau Le Creuset at such a distance.

"Damn it, running away when you can't win? Is this what a mastermind villain does? You had plenty of spirit when you were facing Kira!"

Clearly, Luther's impression of Rau Le Creuset was stuck on the climax of the original timeline, where Rau Le Creuset piloted the Providence Gundam, using both rhetoric and overwhelming force to suppress Kira, who was piloting the Freedom Gundam—which, at the time, wasn't even equipped with the METEOR system.

In reality, however, Rau Le Creuset was not a berserker who fought to the death; he was an expert at reading the situation. Not long ago, inside Heliopolis, when he faced the rookie Kira piloting the Launcher Strike Gundam, Rau Le Creuset had chosen to retreat decisively in his damaged CGUE after being grazed by a single shot from the 320mm "Agni" hyper-impulse cannon.

Luther naturally pursued the fleeing Rau Le Creuset with everything he had;

But although the Time Observer's thruster performance was slightly superior to the CGUE's, it would still take time to close the distance that was currently only just within range for mutual attacks.

More troublesome was the fact that from the Vesalius, one could already see Yzak's Duel Gundam, Nicol's Blitz Gundam, and Dearka's Buster Gundam launching one after another.

Seeing the window of opportunity to take out Rau Le Creuset closing, a frustrated Luther tentatively opened the public channel to vent his emotions.

"Rau Le Creuset!

I am the very person you said shouldn't exist!

I am taller, faster, and stronger than you, and I have a long life and many lovers!

Don't run, face me!

As the mastermind who wants to drag humanity down to accompany your own tragic fate, how have you learned to act like a rat?

The Nebula Medal of ZAFT is weeping!"

Facing Luther's point-blank taunts, the disadvantaged Rau Le Creuset did not respond and simply kept running. However, Yzak, leading the "Three Stooges," couldn't take it and responded to Luther on the public channel.

"How dare you! You actually dare to insult the glory of ZAFT! Die, Natural!"

Following his words came a three-round burst from the Duel Gundam's 57mm high-energy beam rifle, which Luther easily dodged.

Just as Luther finished evading Yzak's shots, Dearka's Buster Gundam followed up with a coordinated volley from its 94mm high-energy beam rifle, forcing Luther to execute a high-difficulty maneuver to evade.

It was in that moment of turning that Nicol's Blitz Gundam vanished from Luther's sight.

Under the cover of the three, Rau Le Creuset unhesitatingly piloted his CGUE out of Luther's attack range.

"Your skills as a thief are indeed impressive; I'll admit that is the 'glory' of ZAFT!"

Having failed to solo Rau Le Creuset, Luther began to mercilessly mock the three while tentatively attacking with his Zaku machine gun while his funnels were still recharging.

Although his superior marksmanship ensured he landed hits, it did little more than stir up dust against the Duel Gundam's Phase Shift armor, let alone cause any damage.

"All talk! Go to hell with the regret of being killed by the mobile suit you stole!"

Clearly, although Luther's precise attacks had broken Yzak out in a cold sweat, once they confirmed that the Zaku machine gun couldn't do anything to the new Gundams they had seized, Yzak and Dearka's confidence surged. Amidst Yzak's shouting, the two began to advance, covering each other to corner the "isolated" Luther and his Time Observer.

Of course, the firepower of two high-energy beam rifles was not enough to hit the Time Observer, but these attacks did succeed in distracting Luther, providing excellent cover for Nicol, who was approaching stealthily using the Blitz Gundam's Mirage Colloid system.

Unfortunately for the trio, to a powerful Newtype like Luther, although he could no longer see the Blitz Gundam, Nicol's unmasked killing intent was as conspicuous as a sun in the distance.

After several rounds of fruitless fire exchange, the battle finally saw a significant development as Yzak's Duel Gundam closed in to a distance where melee combat was imminent.

After narrowly evading a coordinated shot from Yzak's nearby Duel Gundam and Dearka's more distant Buster Gundam, Luther suddenly pulled a Zaku bazooka from behind the Time Observer's waist and quickly and accurately blasted the Blitz Gundam—which was just about to attack with its claws—right out of its "stealth" state.

Inside the Blitz Gundam, which lacked Phase Shift armor while in Mirage Colloid mode, Nicol was caught completely off guard and took the full force of the blast; he was likely stunned instantly by the violent shock, and the Blitz Gundam naturally drifted away, trailing thick smoke and spinning out of control.

Of course, while it looked severe, the "zero-mileage, Earth Alliance-owned, second-hand" Blitz Gundam that Nicol had newly acquired was not about to be destroyed by a single Zaku bazooka round; after all, its construction was far more solid than ZAFT's Ginn.