"Nicol!" "You bastard, how dare you go after Nicol...!"
Dearka and Yzak's panicked cries of concern over the public channel went unanswered. Luther naturally wasn't about to reveal that he'd actually gone easy on Nicol, whom he rather "liked." Instead, he turned the taunting up to eleven.
"They call themselves Coordinators, but when you get down to it, they're still just old types. Imagine trying such a stupid little trick in front of a Newtype!
"But don't worry. You're next!"
Even faster than Luther's deliberately provocative words was the string of attacks he launched from the Time Observer.
First, Luther had the Funnels—already charged, but held in reserve—fire a half-volley of three from each side. The sudden surge in firepower easily interrupted Dearka's furious, all-out covering attack in the Buster Gundam. Compared to Rau Le Creuset, Dearka handled his machine like a cripple. The volley inflicted several conspicuous points of damage and directly destroyed the Buster Gundam's 94mm High-Energy Sniper Rifle.
Then, piloting the Time Observer, Luther easily dodged the Beam Saber swung by Yzak in the Duel Gundam. Yzak's anger only made the attack look full of openings to Luther. Despite Yzak's desperate evasive maneuvers, Luther struck the Duel Gundam's left shoulder with his Heat Hawk. He followed up by "washing its face" with the Zaku Machine Gun, then slammed a Zaku flying kick into its shield. The kick worsened the damage to its left shoulder and sent the Duel Gundam—and Yzak—with it flying backward.
Luther was about to send in the other half of his Funnels to finish them off, but he had to make a sweeping maneuver to evade a precise shot from the Aegis Gundam's 580mm Scylla, a multi-phase energy cannon. Athrun had just launched from the Vesalius again and, seeing how dire the situation was, had transformed into Mobile Armor mode to fire.
"Athrun, are you trying to take me out too, you bastard?!"
"Yzak, retreat! I'll handle things here!"
Faced with Yzak's unreasonable outburst after his machine had been damaged and he'd nearly been killed, Athrun calmly offered him "advice." It clearly wounded Yzak's pride.
"Don't tell me what to do! We're equals! I can still fight! Dearka, cover me!"
"Yeah, that's the spirit! Don't run off like your cowardly captain Creuset. I'm just getting warmed up over here!"
Athrun knew Yzak well enough to have nothing to say in response, so Luther answered Yzak with another round of taunts.
Yzak had just suffered a crushing defeat at Luther's hands, and many of the Duel Gundam's targeting systems were now malfunctioning. This time, he was at a loss for words.
In the end, Yzak could only roar, ignore the Duel Gundam's "minor issues" and his injured left arm, and charge in again with his anger simmering as he fired the 57mm High-Energy Beam Rifle.
Meanwhile, Nicol, still dazed, and his damaged Blitz Gundam were rescued by Dearka in the equally battered Buster Gundam. They neither retreated on their own nor tried to launch a sneak attack with the Mirage Colloid system. Instead, Nicol used the 50mm High-Energy Beam Rifle built into his attack shield to provide covering fire for Yzak and the Duel Gundam at the front.
With its main weapon damaged and its primary means of attack gone, Dearka's Buster Gundam tried to support Yzak and the Duel Gundam with its 350mm Anti-Armor Shotgun and six-tube 220mm Missile Pod.
Seeing the situation, Athrun temporarily had no way to use the Aegis Gundam's 580mm Scylla. He transformed fully into Mobile Armor mode to close in at high speed, while silently thinking about how best to join the fight.
Even though he now faced four aces and four Gundams at once, Luther wasn't the least bit afraid. He was used to taking on multiple opponents in exercises and simulations, and the Time Observer was a custom machine designed for Newtypes, with performance that rivaled a Gundam.
Luther easily shot down the missiles fired by the Buster Gundam, using either the Zaku Machine Gun or his Funnels.
The Duel Gundam and Blitz Gundam were both damaged, and Yzak and Nicol's marksmanship was only at the level of experienced pilots. The High-Energy Beam Rifles of two Gundams that weren't known for their firepower could do little more than slightly restrict Luther's tactical maneuvering.
With covering fire helping it close to melee range once more, the Duel Gundam tried to lower its 57mm High-Energy Beam Rifle and draw its Beam Saber with its only remaining arm. The opening this created was inevitable, and Luther seized it without hesitation, drawing his Heat Hawk from the Time Observer and preparing to hit the Duel Gundam again.
Yzak barely dodged the Heat Hawk, but Luther immediately followed with another practiced Zaku flying kick. Yzak again barely avoided a blow to the cockpit, but the kick struck his only remaining right arm and damaged its mechanisms. That left the Duel Gundam all but unable to attack.
As for the Duel Gundam's 75mm Igelstellung anti-air Vulcan cannons, which continued firing at full strength as it approached before tumbling backward, Luther dodged most of their shots with his piloting. The few that hit merely gave the maintenance crew more paintwork to do.
After all, the Time Observer didn't have Phase Shift Armor, but it was made of smuggled Luna Titanium Alloy—that was, Gundarium Alloy. Even the Vulcan Cannons on the Strike Gundam, which were the same model as the Duel Gundam's, struggled to damage a Ginn's armor. This level of firepower naturally posed no threat to the Time Observer.
So, after kicking the Duel Gundam away for the second time, Luther pursued it again in the Time Observer, intending to destroy Yzak before Athrun could arrive in the Aegis Gundam.
Just as the Duel Gundam and Yzak were in dire straits, Athrun piloted the Aegis Gundam in Mobile Armor mode straight into the gap between the two machines, which had closed to melee range again. He recklessly forced his way in at full speed and rescued Yzak in the nick of time, swinging the Beam Sabers in all four limbs in a chaotic but coordinated flurry that barely drove Luther and the Time Observer back.
"Yzak, your machine can't go on! Retreat!"
"Tch! I'll remember this. Next time we meet, you'd better have your neck washed and ready!"
At last, with warning alarms ringing nonstop in the Duel Gundam's cockpit, Yzak stopped being so stubborn. After delivering his threat, he shook off the Aegis Gundam, which had reverted to Mobile Suit mode, and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, during the tense battle, the Buster Gundam had burned through all its available ammunition while providing fire support for Yzak and the Duel Gundam. Dearka also turned his machine around to escort Yzak as he retreated.
Under Nicol's control, the Blitz Gundam continued to hold up its attack shield and harass the enemy as it moved toward the Aegis Gundam, preparing to coordinate with Athrun in a pincer attack.
But Luther had no intention of playing along with the Four Little Devils' plan. Unlike with Nicol, he had no qualms whatsoever about shooting down Yzak.
Before you continue