Sudden Change 18

All of the Covenant Gundam's thrusters erupted at once, blasting out dazzling light.

The powerful recoil forcibly separated the two machines locked in their struggle.

After opening a small distance from the Unicorn Gundam, Orphee immediately made his next move.

His only remaining right hand—the one holding the Beam Saber—deactivated the blade. Then he pulled the Beam Pistol from its rack on the right side skirt armor and, without aiming in the slightest, sprayed a dense barrage toward the Unicorn Gundam.

Pink beams wove a great net through the dark expanse of space, sealing off every route the Unicorn Gundam could use to evade.

Yet faced with this seemingly unavoidable attack, the Unicorn Gundam's response was absurdly simple. Xia Ya merely pulled back lightly on the controls and activated every auxiliary thruster on its back and feet. The white machine slipped gracefully through the curtain of fire in an extraordinarily fluid, elegant motion.

Not a single beam struck its armor. It did not even suffer a scratch.

Just as the Unicorn Gundam completed its evasive maneuver, Xia Ya's voice finally sounded over the communications channel for the first time. It was so calm and flat that no emotion could be heard in it.

"I don't have time for you."

Those few words reached Orphee's ears with perfect clarity.

"Ha!" A short, furious laugh escaped Orphee's throat. "How heartless, Char La Flaga!"

He seized the opportunity. In order to complete that evasive maneuver, the Unicorn Gundam would inevitably be briefly immobilized.

The Covenant Gundam's engines roared again, instantly closing the distance that had just been opened.

The Assault Shield System on its right arm deployed, and the Beam Saber hidden within the shield shot out. Its searing blade thrust straight toward the exposed cockpit of the Unicorn Gundam.

This was a