For a pilot ruled by murderous instinct, this was the perfect prelude to tearing out her prey's throat.
At that moment, on this stage of near-frozen vacuum, Flay had gained the perfect opening to fire.
"Die-"
Inside the Goddess of Liberation Gundam's cockpit, Flay's pale face twisted with extreme excitement. Her hands gripped the control sticks in a death grip, her wide eyes shot through with crimson veins as she fixed her gaze on the Freedom Gundam, thrown off balance by the hit.
Her finger obeyed the rewritten, implanted command to kill and pressed hard toward the trigger. Just erase that hateful Coordinator from this screen. Destroy everything in front of me that's in the way.
Then I'll be one step closer to vengeance. One more step.
"-?"
Her finger stopped mere millimeters short of pulling the trigger. Her entire body fell into utter paralysis, as though the marrow had been drained from her bones.
"...Flay?"
Having barely leveled her machine out of its uncontrolled tumble, Jiliang breathed rapidly, her eyes fixed on what lay ahead.
No torrential barrage of beams followed. No searing heat pierced her armor as she had expected. During those long seconds that could decide life or death, the Goddess of Liberation Gundam's targeting marker on her warning radar remained unchanged.
Through the optical monitor, Jiliang could clearly see that the Gundam still held its Beam Rifle raised, its muzzle pointed straight at her. Yet the machine hung frozen in space, making no move to fire.
"Why...why won't you move!?"
The piercing scream suddenly exploded over their open communications channel.
Flay's voice was shrill and broken. Her once lifeless, hollow eyes were now filled with utter confusion.
Her hands shook violently. No matter how frantically her brain ordered her to shoot and kill, the instinct buried