Chapter 236: No More Than a One-Move Opponent
That move was highly effective—every cannon on the Psycommu Gundam instantly swiveled and locked onto NT-X's position.
Not just the ones in its hands—even its abdomen and the center of its V-shaped antenna began to glow with light.
The sight gave Amuro a strange sense of déjà vu.
Had he fought a similar enemy before?
As this thought crossed his mind, the Psycommu Gundam unleashed a full-volley bombardment from all its weapons!
And in that very instant, Amuro remembered!
Damn it, isn't this just like the Zeong?
This Gundam-shaped machine, specifically designed to serve as a symbol of the Federation, was—when you thought about it—essentially the Federation's version of the Zeong.
Amuro still had enough composure to entertain these idle thoughts in the middle of battle.
Dodging in the NT-X wasn't especially difficult—the only problem was that without the Gaplant, Amuro could no longer jump freely to avoid incoming fire.
"Captain! There's a flight platform above you!"
Just as Amuro was worrying about that, Captain Otto's voice came through the comms.
Amuro looked up to see an unused flight platform flying straight toward him.
Clearly, Captain Otto had noticed the combat situation on Amuro's side—and had even realized the problem with their current combat pattern before Amuro did.
The White Arrows still had to intercept the advancing Titans units up ahead and couldn't turn back to assist them.
So Otto had issued orders to the hangar and dispatched this flight platform.
"Thanks, Captain!"
At that moment, Amuro finally recognized that Otto truly had the ability to succeed Captain Paolo. He let go of his earlier bias that Otto was "timid, cowardly, and overly cautious."
Once the NT-X docked with the airborne flight platform, it immediately gained altitude and banked away, narrowly dodging another round of fire from the Psycommu Gundam.
"Get out of my way!"
Now focused solely on battle, Amuro could hear the voice in his mind more and more clearly.
Naturally, it was the voice of the Psycommu Gundam's pilot.
It was a crisp, female voice.
The moment Amuro heard it, his mind lit up with a green hue.
Just like how hearing Rita's voice would bring to mind the color gold.
Amuro blinked and, sensing her agitation, realized this fight could no longer be resolved with words.
He knew a thing or two about Cyber-Newtypes.
There was a Cyber-Newtype at the Augusta Research Lab who had undergone enhancement surgery before Lila had taken over the facility. Because of this, she now had to be constantly monitored for both mental and physical health.
That girl, Rosamia, was only fifteen years old. She should have been cheerful and innocent like Rita, but due to the enhancements, her mental state had become extremely unstable.
Especially when Amuro was near—she would scream and lash out with violent intent.
Amuro had only wanted to check in on the girl, but perhaps because of all the battles he'd experienced, the moment their minds connected, Rosamia saw nothing but images of warfare.
He only learned later from the staff that the current Federation enhancement procedures greatly amplified the subject's combat instincts.
After all, they were designed to be weapons.
And once they piloted a mobile suit equipped with a Psycommu system, the symptoms became even more severe.
"Die die die! Give me back my memories!"
The woman's voice continued to scream.
Or maybe… it was more like a wail?
Suppressing the sympathy rising in his heart, Amuro raised his beam rifle and fired at the Gundam's head, using the wire-guided cannons on his back as well.
Unsurprisingly, the attack was nullified by an invisible barrier.
There wasn't time to switch to electro-needles now...
That thought crossed Amuro's mind, but he didn't panic.
If they were in space, Amuro was confident he could take this opponent down even without the needles.
The enemy's unit seemed to be using the latest movable frame design to achieve transformation—but its movements were still sluggish.
In space, Amuro could have gradually chipped away at its defenses with sheer mobility and a beam saber.
On land, humanoid mobile suits naturally couldn't fully leverage omnidirectional movement.
However, there were units on Earth capable of high mobility!
Just as the Psycommu Gundam fired another volley, a flash of light erupted from the dense forest behind it—rushing straight toward it!
It was the Gaplant, which had seemingly vanished earlier.
The Gaplant was designed to take off regardless of terrain—even from within a forest.
Aerodynamics weren't even considered in its design. It could fly purely thanks to its unmatched thrust.
And with Eli having deliberately suppressed his presence, the surprise assault had been perfectly executed.
Truth be told, it hadn't been necessary to go to such lengths—they could've just circled around and launched a well-timed strike.
But the Gaplant's propellant situation wasn't looking too good, so they went with the safer plan.
As it closed in, Eli disengaged the locks on all the joints, transforming the unit into MS mode.
He pulled back the control lever, drew a beam saber from the left side of the fuselage with his right hand, and swung a half-moon arc aimed straight at the Psycommu Gundam's head!
The beam saber, which had never failed him in the past, didn't slice through the Psycommu Gundam's head the way Eli expected.
If outfitting every Rem unit with anti-beam coated shields was considered generous, then the Titans were downright extravagant—
Because the Psycommu Gundam's entire body was coated in anti-beam material, and it also featured a new type of reflective anti-beam armor.
For the moment, the Gaplant's beam saber was actually locked in a stalemate against the Psycommu Gundam's armor.
With no other choice, Eli wrapped his left arm around the Gundam's head, using the Gaplant's arm to block its eye monitors.
At the same time, the shield units mounted on the Gaplant's arms rotated, bringing their cannons to bear against the Psycommu Gundam's chest—and he fired without hesitation!
The first few shots were deflected, but at this range, it didn't take long for the beams to punch through the armor!
With that, the Psycommu Gundam's abdomen-mounted MEGA particle cannon was completely disabled.
This gave Amuro the chance to charge in and, together with Eli, grab hold of the Gundam's head from the front.
"Amuro, I want to take this pilot alive!"
"Understood!"
Amuro didn't ask why Eli wanted to do that. He simply moved his own mobile suit forward and locked onto the Psycommu Gundam's visor with one firm grip.