Jiliang's Battle

"You bastard...!" Xia Ya's voice came through the comm channel in a suppressed growl, piercing straight toward his opponent—Rau Le Creuset, ZAFT's elite pilot, a man whose true face and inner abyss were hidden behind a mask.

Hatred coiled around Xia Ya's heart like an icy venomous snake.

He could not understand why Rau Le Creuset was so obsessed, why he directed that twisted malice so precisely at him and the Archangel, as though they shared an irreconcilable hatred.

In that brief exchange just now, Rau Le Creuset's shots had been tricky and lethal.

The beams had accurately predicted Blaze Gundam's evasive path. If Xia Ya had not relied on instincts beyond reason at the critical moment, pushing Blaze Gundam to its limits and forcing it into a sharp turn that nearly tore apart its frame, that beam would have pierced the cockpit and ended this battle—and his short yet long new life—completely.

However, Xia Ya was no longer the boy who had only just stepped onto the battlefield. After this series of fierce battles, every fight had tempered him, and every brush with despair had transformed him. His reflexes, tactical thinking, and delicate control over his machine's energy and posture were all improving at an astonishing rate.

Now, even Rau Le Creuset could no longer defeat him easily. The two of them were locked in a deadlock, evenly matched.

Xia Ya suddenly demanded loudly, "Do you hate me that much?! Do you hate this world that much?!"

His voice echoed through the comm channel, full of fury and confusion.

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Rau Le Creuset was at a loss. As he wondered why Xia Ya had suddenly said such things, he waited for what Xia Ya would say next.

But Xia Ya's next words were like a bombshell, freezing Rau Le Creuset's thoughts completely.

Xia Ya shouted, "Lau La Flada!"

That was the name Rau Le Creuset had abandoned in the past—a name he loathed and despised to the very core, his real name, etched deep into his soul like a nightmare.

Amid the vast, perilous battlefield of space, Xia Ya was locked in a thrilling battle with Rau Le Creuset.

At the same time, the other side of the battlefield was just as dangerous.

Inside Strike Gundam's cockpit, Jiliang Yamato bit down on her lower lip as sweat ran down her temples, soaking the hair at the sides of her face.

Her eyes were filled with tension, exhaustion, and a stubborn refusal to yield. On the display, red enemy signals kept flashing while shrill alarms stabbed at her eardrums.

Two ZAFT mobile suits were attacking her: Duel Gundam, piloted by Yzak Joule, and a Mass-Production Ginn piloted by Miguel Aiman.

Duel Gundam's blue-and-white paint scheme stood out sharply against the backdrop of space. Yzak's piloting style brimmed with the aggressive edge of youthful arrogance, every maneuver carrying a fierce intensity.

Michel's Ginn, meanwhile, was only a mass-production unit, but in the hands of an experienced pilot, its heavy armor and Heavy Cleaver still posed a tremendous threat.

Farther away, Athrun Zala's Aegis Gundam, along with Diego Elsman's Buster Gundam and Nicol Amalfi's Blitz Gundam, prowled around the edge of the battlefield like ghosts.

Buster Gundam's long-range fire occasionally harassed the Archangel, while Blitz Gundam used its Mirage Particles cloaking system to repeatedly try to breach the Archangel's defenses, searching for an opening to launch a surprise attack.

The Archangel's cannons and missile launchers spat fire, weaving dense curtains of gunfire that temporarily kept the enemy machines from closing in. But under the repeated assaults of ZAFT's elites, that line of defense was growing increasingly fragile.

Yet the most crucial issue at the moment was Jiliang herself.

Inside the cockpit, Jiliang cried out anxiously, "Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"

This was already her third time piloting Strike Gundam.

Before sortie, her interactions with the Xia Ya brothers had eased some of the tension in her heart.

Even so, Jiliang was ultimately just an ordinary civilian girl. She was gentle and kind by nature, wholly unsuited to this battle filled with bloodshed and killing.

She understood even less why Xia Ya, whose combat experience was not particularly extensive either, could always remain so calm on the battlefield, even... enjoy it?

To her, that calmness seemed strangely out of place.

Watching Strike Gundam fire its Beam Rifle wildly without restraint, Yzak sneered with disdain. "Hmph! Fighting like that!"

In his eyes, attacks with no tactical restraint, nothing but desperate shooting in hopes of hitting the enemy, were far too easy to evade at this range.

"Michel may have suffered a little at this guy's hands because he let his guard down, but I thought she was supposed to be difficult to deal with..." Yzak continued, his contempt growing stronger. "Looks like she's just a Natural after all. She only got lucky. Athrun, Michel, I'll feint and draw her attention. You two find a chance to circle behind her!"

Michel immediately replied, "Understood! Athrun, we'll pincer her from behind and hit her hard!"

Athrun fell silent for a moment over the comm channel, as if hesitating over something. In the end, he merely answered in a low voice, "...All right."

With the orders given, Yzak hesitated no longer.

Duel Gundam's thrusters suddenly blasted out scorching plasma, and the machine transformed into a blue bolt of lightning as it charged straight at Strike Gundam.

At the same time, Athrun's Aegis Gundam and Michel's Ginn used Duel Gundam's advance as cover, skillfully altering their routes and quietly disappearing from Strike Gundam's primary sensor range.

"It-It's coming!" Jiliang watched Duel Gundam's signal rapidly approach on the radar, her heart seeming ready to leap from her chest.

All of her attention was drawn to the threat charging directly at her. She had no idea that an even greater danger was silently closing in from behind and to the side.

"Aaaaaaah!!" Yzak let out a roar brimming with fighting spirit.

A mechanical arm swiftly drew the hilt of a Beam Saber from the sheath on Duel Gundam's back. Its pink energy blade sprang out and ignited in an instant, carving a dazzling trail through the darkness of space.

Faced with that fierce slash, Jiliang reacted instinctively. Strike Gundam also drew its Beam Saber and met the charging Duel Gundam head-on.

Clang—!

The two machines rapidly closed in, then blocked each other's slashes with their shields, both sides exerting force in an attempt to overpower the other.

At that brief moment of deadlock, a piercing alarm suddenly began blaring wildly inside Strike Gundam's cockpit!

The threat indicator at her rear flank flashed urgent red!

"Ugh!?" Jiliang's heart tightened, and her pupils contracted instantly.

She had been locked on! It was those two machines that had disappeared earlier!

Relying almost entirely on her survival instinct, she violently shoved the controls forward. Strike Gundam's thrusters erupted at full power as it tried to escape its position.

"Don't think you can run!" Yzak roared. Duel Gundam followed close behind, swinging its Beam Saber again in an attempt to keep Strike Gundam pinned down.

While retreating at high speed, Jiliang forcibly twisted Strike Gundam's body. Its free left hand drew the Beam Rifle from its waist, aimed at the pursuing Duel Gundam, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Whoosh—!

A high-energy beam shot out with a howl. But Yzak had been prepared. Duel Gundam slipped sideways with agility, easily avoiding the hasty shot and opening up a little distance in the process.

Now!

"Got her!" Michel's excited roar exploded over the comm channel.

"Ahhh!?" Jiliang screamed in terror.

Boom!!

A heavy, violent impact slammed viciously into Strike Gundam's back!

The tremendous force sent the entire machine spinning wildly. The cockpit whirled around her, and Jiliang felt as if her organs were being shaken out of place as a pained groan escaped her throat.

The source of the impact was Michel's Ginn, which had circled around behind her!

He had seized the instant Strike Gundam evaded Duel Gundam's attack and exposed its back, launching a fierce charge.

After landing the first blow, Michel did not stop. He swung his Heavy Cleaver again, the grotesque weapon carrying immense force as it slashed mercilessly toward the area around Strike Gundam's cockpit.

Inside the cockpit, Jiliang screamed in terror, "Aaaaaaah!!" Her voice was filled with fear and despair.

Although the PS Armor barely blocked Michel's vicious slash, the powerful impact crashed toward Jiliang in the cockpit like surging waves.

Her body shook violently in the cockpit as if caught in a terrible storm. She gripped the controls tightly with both hands, trying to steady herself.

Having struck successfully, Michel did not let up. He controlled Ginn and raised the grotesquely shaped Heavy Cleaver, then brought it down mercilessly toward the area around Strike Gundam's cockpit as the machine, temporarily out of control from the impact, spun helplessly through space!

If that blow landed cleanly, it would be enough to split Strike Gundam wide open!

"Aaaaaaah!!" Inside the cockpit, Jiliang let out a terrified, despairing scream on the verge of collapse.

The shadow of death had never loomed over her so clearly.

At the critical moment, Strike Gundam's PS Armor came into play.

With sufficient energy, Phase Shift Armor possessed extremely powerful defensive capabilities against physical weapons.

The Heavy Cleaver struck the armor's surface, throwing off blinding sparks and producing a dull crash, but it failed to break through completely.

However, although PS Armor could resist the physical damage of the slash, it could not fully absorb that terrifying kinetic impact.

The violent force was like an invisible sledgehammer, smashing into the machine once more and passing through layer after layer of shock-absorbing structures before finally reaching Jiliang inside the cockpit.

Her safety harness held her firmly to the seat, but she felt as though she had been struck head-on by a charging beast. Her vision darkened in waves, and even her consciousness began to blur.

Michel's assault was as relentless as a raging storm.

Taking advantage of the opening while Strike Gundam was knocked back by the slash and had yet to fully regain its posture, he swiftly raised the assault rifle in his hand and began firing continuously at Strike Gundam.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

Solid rounds struck Strike Gundam's armor densely like hail.

Though the assault rifle's bullets could not penetrate the PS Armor, every impact brought continuous vibrations and drained energy.

This seemingly ineffective attack was like a dull blade cutting flesh, steadily building both physical and psychological pressure on Jiliang inside the cockpit. More importantly, it continued consuming the precious energy needed to sustain the PS Armor.