A violent tremor swept through the entire Archangel. The lights on the bridge flickered several times, and unsecured objects slid off the consoles. Red damage warning lights began flashing, while shrill alarms filled everyone's ears.
"Starboard armor sections three and four damaged! Hull breach detected! The airtight system has activated automatically!"
"Pressure in the energy conduits is dropping! Switching to backup lines!"
Reports from damage control came in one after another. Fortunately, the missile had not struck a vital area and had caused no fatal damage.
But that hit made everyone painfully aware of the extremely dangerous predicament they were in.
To intercept the ZAFT forces attacking from behind, Mu, Nicol, and Michel had already broken away from the main battlefield and gone ahead.
This left their already inadequate escort force even weaker. Now, the burden of protecting the two warships rested almost entirely on Sven and the remaining M1 Astray pilots.
Sven had no choice but to lead the few remaining M1 Units in a desperate offensive and defensive battle amid the massive enemy formation.
Though the M1 Astray was an excellent mass-production unit, it held no overwhelming performance advantage against the Earth Forces' new Strike Daggers. Orb's pilots held on through superior control systems and their resolve to defend their homeland, but their casualty figures continued to climb bit by bit.
Though they were the enemy, the Earth Forces fleet's coordination this time was remarkably effective—one could even call it seamless.
Their tactics were clear and efficient. Part of their MS force launched feints, using dense firepower to draw Sven and the M1 Units' attention and pull them away from the warships. Another part exploited the brief window when the Archangel and Dominion shifted their attention from the main fleet, allowing Drake-class warships hidden in the rear to