Facing the charging Justice Gundam, the three units temporarily ceased their slaughter of the fodder troops and scattered in different directions to evade the attack. The first to challenge Athrun Zala was the distant Calamity Gundam. Orga slammed the trigger, sending shells pouring down like rain. From such a distance, Athrun calmly maneuvered the Justice Gundam sideways, avoiding the main axis of the barrage.
Yet in that brief defensive gap, the Goddess of Liberation Gundam activated its Light Ring Accelerator. The multilayered wings on its back spread to their fullest, and the machine became an afterimage as it slashed straight at the Justice Gundam's cockpit.
"Trying to get in my way again!?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Flay replied over the radio, her voice utterly flat.
The Justice Gundam immediately raised the Anti-Beam Shield on its left arm, forcibly blocking the Goddess of Liberation Gundam's crushing downward slash.
Violent energy sparks erupted between the two machines, bright particles scattering in every direction. Through that close-range contact, the two pilots poured their pure battle lust at one another.
Athrun raised his shield and knocked aside the opposing force, then swung his Double-headed Beam Saber in his right hand, carving a deadly crescent arc.
The Goddess of Liberation Gundam swiftly folded its wings and pulled far back. Once she had opened the distance, Flay neatly returned her Beam Saber to its waist rack, removed the large Beam Cannon mounted on her back with both hands, leveled it at her waist, and fired at the Justice Gundam without hesitation.
Athrun immediately sent his machine into a high-speed rolling spin to evade, while aligning his crosshairs and retaliating against the Goddess of Liberation Gundam with his High-Energy Beam Rifle.
The two machines cast aside the allied units around them, seeing only each other as they poured