'Time Observer' Battles the Four Young Heroes

"Nicol!" "You bastard, how dare you do that to Nicol...!"

Luther naturally wouldn't reveal that he had actually held back out of a strange 'fondness' for Nicol, despite the frantic, panicked shouts from Dearka and Yzak over the public channel; instead, he dialed his mockery up to the maximum.

"Though you call yourselves Coordinators, in the end, you are nothing more than Old Types. How foolish to try such petty tricks in front of a Newtype! But don't be in such a rush—now, it's your turn!"

Faster than Luther's taunting words, the Time Observer launched a continuous assault:

Luther first commanded the funnels—which had finished charging long ago but remained held in reserve—to execute a half-volley from both sides. The sudden spike in firepower easily interrupted the furious, all-out covering fire from Dearka's Buster Gundam, which looked clumsy and crippled compared to Rau Le Creuset. The barrage not only caused two or three obvious structural failures but also directly destroyed the Buster Gundam's 94mm high-energy beam rifle.

Next, Luther maneuvered the Time Observer to effortlessly dodge a beam saber swing from Yzak's Duel Gundam—a move so riddled with openings due to Yzak's rage that it looked pathetic in Luther's eyes. Despite Yzak's desperate evasive maneuvers, Luther still managed to slash the Duel Gundam's left shoulder with his Heat Hawk. After 'washing the face' of the Duel Gundam with the Zaku Machine Gun, he delivered a Zaku kick to its shield, worsening the damage to the left shoulder and sending both the mobile suit and Yzak tumbling away.

Just as he was about to deploy the remaining funnels to finish the job, Luther was forced to perform a high-G maneuver to evade the 580mm Scylla energy cannon fired with pinpoint accuracy by Athrun's Aegis Gundam, which had just sortied from the Vesalius and transformed into its mobile armor mode upon seeing the dire situation.

"Athrun, you bastard! Are you trying to kill me along with them?!"

"Yzak, retreat immediately! Leave this to me!"

Faced with Yzak's irrational outburst—despite his suit being damaged and nearly destroyed—Athrun simply offered a cold 'suggestion,' which clearly wounded Yzak's pride.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do! We are of equal rank! I can still fight—Dearka, cover me!"

"Yes, yes, that's it! Don't go running away like your cowardly Captain Rau Le Creuset; I'm just starting to have fun here!"

Replacing Athrun, who knew Yzak's temperament too well to bother arguing, was a new wave of biting sarcasm from Luther.

Having suffered a major loss at Luther's hands, and with many of the Duel Gundam's targeting sensors now malfunctioning, Yzak was left speechless.

Ultimately, Yzak let out a roar and, ignoring the 'minor issues' with the Duel Gundam and the injury to its left arm, charged in again, suppressing his rage while firing with his 57mm high-energy beam rifle.

On the other side, a dazed Nicol and his damaged Blitz Gundam, having been rescued by Dearka's equally battered Buster Gundam, did not retreat. Instead of attempting another sneak attack with the Mirage Colloid system, they provided covering fire for Yzak and the Duel Gundam using the 50mm high-energy beam rifle mounted on the Blitz's offensive shield.

With his main weapon destroyed and his primary offensive capability gone, Dearka's Buster Gundam attempted to provide fire support for Yzak and the Duel Gundam using its 350mm gun launcher and 6-tube 220mm missile pod.

Seeing the situation from the rear, Athrun, unable to fire the 580mm Scylla again so soon, simply had his Aegis Gundam fully transform into mobile armor mode to close the distance at high speed, silently calculating how to best intervene.

Even though the situation had devolved into facing all four of the 'Four Stooges' and their four Gundams, Luther felt no fear; he was long accustomed to one-versus-many scenarios in simulations, and his Time Observer was a custom Newtype-use machine with performance that did not lose to any Gundam.

As for the missiles fired by the Buster Gundam, Luther easily shot them down one by one using either his Zaku Machine Gun or his funnels.

The Duel Gundam and Blitz Gundam were not only damaged, but Yzak and Nicol's marksmanship was only at the level of a skilled pilot; thus, the high-energy beam rifle fire from two Gundams not particularly known for their firepower could only slightly restrict Luther's tactical maneuvers.

As the Duel Gundam closed into melee range again under the cover of fire, an opening naturally appeared when Yzak attempted to lower his 57mm high-energy beam rifle and draw his beam saber with his only remaining arm. Luther didn't hesitate to pilot the Time Observer forward, drawing his Heat Hawk to strike the Duel Gundam once more.

Although Yzak barely managed to dodge the Heat Hawk, Luther followed up with a practiced Zaku kick. Yzak managed to avoid a direct hit to the cockpit in the chest, but the kick struck his remaining right arm, causing mechanical failure and effectively stripping him of his combat capability.

As for the Igelstellung 75mm automatic CIWS that the Duel Gundam fired at full blast while its head was being neutralized and it was sent flying backward, most of it was avoided through Luther's expert piloting, and the few hits that landed only served to give the maintenance crew more paint work to do.

After all, while it lacked Phase Shift Armor, Luther's Time Observer used smuggled Luna Titanium Alloy—also known as Gundarium Alloy. Since the Strike Gundam's version of the same Vulcan cannons struggled even against a Ginn's armor, this level of firepower posed no threat to the Time Observer.

Therefore, after kicking the Duel Gundam away for the second time, Luther piloted the Time Observer to pursue, intending to completely destroy Yzak before Athrun could arrive in the Aegis Gundam.

In this moment of crisis for the Duel Gundam and Yzak, Athrun maneuvered the Aegis Gundam in its mobile armor mode, recklessly thrusting itself between the two machines as they closed back into melee range. With a desperate, chaotic, yet orderly flurry of its limb-mounted beam sabers, he managed to force Luther and the Time Observer back.

"Yzak, your suit is finished! Retreat now!"

"Tch! I'll remember this grudge! Wash your neck and wait for me next time we meet!"

With the warning sirens blaring incessantly in the Duel Gundam's cockpit, Yzak finally stopped being stubborn. After leaving his threat, he brushed off the assistance of the Aegis Gundam—which had reverted to mobile suit mode—and turned to leave.

On the other side, having exhausted his available ammunition while recklessly covering Yzak and the Duel Gundam during the intense battle, Dearka turned his Buster Gundam around to escort Yzak to safety.

Meanwhile, under Nicol's control, the Blitz Gundam continued to hold its offensive shield up to maintain suppressive fire while moving toward the Aegis Gundam, preparing to coordinate a pincer attack with Athrun.

However, Luther had no intention of playing along with the 'Four Stooges' plans; after all, compared to Nicol, Luther felt absolutely no psychological burden about shooting down Yzak.