After breaking through the interception by Rau Le Creuset and his team in one fell swoop, the ZAFT fleet no longer had any forces capable of stopping the Sky Raider Gundam.
Moreover, as expected, Rau Le Creuset did not pursue but chose to stay behind.
This was to be expected.
Since Rau Le Creuset had earned the trust of the current ZAFT Defense Committee Chairman, Patrick Zala, he naturally had to bear the corresponding responsibilities.
Entrusting the “Crown Prince Team,” including Athrun Zala, to his command was a symbol of the trust placed in Rau Le Creuset by the ZAFT high command, led by Patrick Zala.
Although death was commonplace in war, if one of the Crown Prince Team members were to be killed right before his eyes while he had the means to prevent it, even Rau Le Creuset would be unwilling to shoulder such responsibility.
Furthermore, Rau Le Creuset had seen through Leon Vance’s plan and did not believe that the Sky Raider Gundam, armed with only two beam rings and two beam blades, posed a significant threat to his fleet.
After weighing the pros and cons, Rau Le Creuset ultimately chose to rescue Athrun.
As long as Athrun survived, even if some ships in the fleet were sunk, it was a loss he could bear.
Conversely, if Athrun died before his eyes, Rau Le Creuset would undoubtedly be finished.
Of course, this did not mean Rau Le Creuset would stand idly by and watch the Sky Raider Gundam assault his fleet.
“Adess!!
Our defensive line has been breached!
I am currently rescuing Athrun and cannot pursue the enemy!
Be wary of the Earth Alliance’s new model’s surprise attack!”
After sending this message, Rau Le Creuset ignored the fleet’s situation and instead maneuvered his Mobile Suit to land on the torso of the Aegis Gundam, which had crashed into the outer wall of the colony satellite.
Looking at the Aegis Gundam, now limbless and resembling a human stump, a trace of mockery flashed in Rau Le Creuset’s eyes.
“I hope you’re still alive, Athrun.
Otherwise, neither of us will fare well.”
“What?!
Captain Rau Le Creuset and the others failed to intercept it?!
It’s just a single Earth Alliance MS!
How is that possible?!”
Upon hearing the news, Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol, who were in the lounge, were eager to sortie immediately in the Mobile Suits they had just seized.
“Stand down!
Your Mobile Suits are not fully prepared and are no match for that Earth Alliance new model!”
Adess sternly refused Yzak’s request.
With Athrun’s fate unknown, letting these “crown princes” sortie again would be disastrous.
If anything happened to them, not only Rau Le Creuset but even he, as the Captain, would be finished!
Although Rau Le Creuset’s communication explicitly forbade these crown princes from sortieing, Adess understood that Rau Le Creuset did not want to see them recklessly piloting combat-unready Mobile Suits and becoming easy prey for the enemy.
“But…
but we have no Mobile Suits left to intercept the enemy’s attack!”
Yzak tried to argue his case.
“No need to worry!
It’s just an Earth Alliance Mobile Suit that has expended half its energy in a desperate attempt to assault the fleet!
Our warships are more than capable of handling it.”
As an experienced captain, Adess had his own judgment.
“Yes!
Captain Adess.
But we can sortie at any time!”
After reluctantly cutting off the communication, Yzak clenched his fist and slammed it against the wall.
“Damn it!!
How many things has the Earth Alliance been hiding?
That new model’s performance is nothing like the units we captured!”
“Perhaps that is the Earth Alliance’s secret weapon.”
Dearka crossed his arms and shook his head.
Beside him, Nicol moved his lips as if wanting to say something, but ultimately chose to remain silent.
With the restless young masters now settled, Adess breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began deploying anti-air defenses against the MS assault.
Just as he had anticipated, after charging all the way, the Sky Raider Gundam’s energy had indeed been largely depleted.
If it were to forcibly launch an assault on the fleet, whether it could complete the mission aside, its energy would inevitably be exhausted.
“They’re here!
All ships, commence anti-air defense against the MS!”
The moment the Sky Raider Gundam appeared, Adess immediately ordered the activation of anti-air mode.
A barrage of fire erupted wildly from the automatic Vulcan cannons of the Nazca-class Vesalius and its accompanying Lolasia-class escort ships, forming a terrifyingly dense anti-air curtain that swept toward the Sky Raider Gundam.
“Tsk tsk!
The ZAFT fleet is really enthusiastic!”
Just as Leon Vance was piloting the Sky Raider Gundam, dodging back and forth while looking for an opportunity, the reinforcements he had been waiting for finally appeared.
“Lieutenant Mu, I thought you had stood me up!”
After glancing at the friendly signal appearing behind the ZAFT fleet, Leon chuckled.
“I’m always very punctual.
Ensign Vance, you can’t accuse me of that!
Here!
A gift from the Archangel, catch it!”
The moment the Moebius Zero was detected by the Vesalius, Adess immediately sensed impending disaster.
He saw the Sky Raider Gundam, which had been blocked by the barrage from the Vesalius and the Lolasia-class escorts, suddenly accelerate, flying over the top of the ZAFT fleet and heading straight for the Moebius Zero’s position.
Although he still didn’t understand what the Sky Raider Gundam and the Moebius Zero were planning, his extensive combat experience told him this was definitely not good news!
“Hurry!! Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Stop that MA!!”
Suddenly, half of the anti-air barrage locked onto the Sky Raider Gundam shifted, sweeping toward the Moebius Zero.
“Whoa!!
Hey hey!!
I’m not the one inviting you over!!”
Seeing this, Mu decisively released the backpack equipment towed by the Moebius Zero, allowing it to follow the flight trajectory and rendezvous with the Sky Raider Gundam ahead.
Then, he promptly lowered his altitude and rapidly closed in on the Vesalius.
Clearly, this was cover for the Sky Raider Gundam and the backpack equipment.
Without wasting words, Leon quickly pressed a few keys on the small keypad to his right.
The racks on the back of the Sky Raider Gundam, which served as the Leaf-Wheel Blades, unlocked and popped up, revealing the numerous concealed ports.
Then, the rapidly approaching backpack unit opened its auxiliary thrusters, decelerated to match the Sky Raider Gundam’s speed, and finally deployed its locking mechanisms.
With the aid of the laser guidance system, it merged with the Sky Raider Gundam in an instant.
Energy, which had been largely depleted, quickly replenished.
The beam rifles mounted on either side of the backpack unit lowered, extended forward, and were grasped by the Sky Raider Gundam.
“Sorry!
You’ll have to stay quiet here for a while!”
The Leaf-Wheel Blades launched once more, becoming the first blade to slice through the anti-air barrage.
Raising its shield and aiming the rifle, it locked onto the weapon turrets and engine sections of the Lolasia-class escort ship, firing several precise shots.
In the flashes of several beams, all the turrets on the Lolasia-class escort ship were destroyed, and its engines were completely disabled, losing all power.
Trailing a long trail of flames, it crashed into the outer wall of Heliopolis and exploded violently.
“Oh!
Well done, Ensign Vance!”
Mu, while skillfully dodging the anti-air barrage from the Vesalius, cheered for Leon Vance’s achievement.
“Hurry!
We must conserve enough energy to catch up with the Archangel!”
Sensing something, Leon Vance glanced in a certain direction and accelerated the Sky Raider Gundam to rendezvous with the Moebius Zero.
Before Mu could react, several beams suddenly appeared in the distance, sweeping between them and the Vesalius.
“ZAFT’s reinforcement fleet?
They arrived so quickly?”
Mu gasped in shock.
“Don’t worry about that!
Destroy the propulsion engines of this Nazca-class ship and retreat immediately!”
“Got it!”
With the two of them working together, Adess struggled desperately, trying to hold out until the reinforcement fleet arrived, but he could only watch helplessly as his ship became a powerless steel coffin drifting in space.
The only difference was that, due to the effects of the previous battle, the distance between the Vesalius and Heliopolis was sufficient, preventing it from becoming another unfortunate ship crashing into Heliopolis’s outer wall.