Thanks to the efforts of Wang Hu and Kira, along with the Blue Cosmos being pushed out as scapegoats, over eighty percent of the Eighth Fleet's personnel managed to board the escape pods inside the battleships. It was fortunate that the Atlantic Federation might not excel at warfare, but they certainly had deep pockets. Although the fleet had many members, there were indeed enough escape pods to accommodate everyone.
After setting the battleships to autopilot mode, the vessels continued on their predetermined trajectories even without anyone manning the bridges. Once the crew members piloted the escape pods and began descending toward the gravity well, the battleships accelerated at full speed, charging toward the eleven approaching ZAFT Forces warships.
Along the way, amidst the swarm of launched escape pods, the Eighth Fleet's battleships could still deploy firepower in automatic mode, providing further cover for the escape pods.
"Dearka, the enemy is retreating!" Yzak, piloting the Duel Gundam, was frustrated by Mu's obstruction, unable to break through the stalemate. The sight of that recon-type Gene, which should have been on their side but was now modified into an enemy mobile suit, fueled his anger beyond words.
"I know, I know," Dearka replied, wielding his beam cannon to desperately fend off Mu's wired-control pods. He hadn't expected that the guy from the Archangel who originally piloted the Moebius Zero would be this strong after switching to a mobile suit.
"I'll cover you; you break through!" After some thought, Dearka decided they couldn't continue like this. Before coming, Captain Creuset had emphasized that they must destroy the Eighth Fleet along with those escape pods. Currently, the two strongest points on the Archangel—Kira and Wang Hu—were being held back by Athrun and Captain Creuset, respectively. If they failed to make progress here, it would be utterly humiliating. Damn this mobile suit and those reckless Moebius units!
"Alright," Yzak nodded in agreement, ready to seize any opportunity to charge past the obstacle in front of him.
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm the man who creates miracles," Mu sensed that the two Gundams ahead were planning something. But on this day, after glancing at the situations with Wang Hu and Kira, Mu felt it was finally his turn to shine. He couldn't afford to slip up here and lose face again.
"Kira and Wang Hu, today is my time to shine too!" Manipulating his four wired-controlled gun pods, Mu prepared thoroughly. Without waiting for the Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam to initiate their attack, he launched a preemptive counterattack with full concentration.
"He's coming!" Dearka hadn't anticipated that the enemy, piloting just a Gene, would dare to counterattack both of them. But since he was prepared to break through, he wasn't caught off guard. He opened the missile pods on his shoulders, launching six cluster missiles.
"Yzak!" Watching the missiles explode into several bursts of flames in the cosmic space, which slightly hindered the annoying wired-control pods, Dearka immediately followed up by firing two beam cannon shots head-on. At the same time, he didn't forget to remind his friend.
"I know, stop ordering me around!"
Having repeatedly learned from his defeats at Wang Hu's hands, Yzak had indeed grown from these experiences.
Seizing the opportunity, Yzak drew his Beam Saber and cunningly followed behind Dearka's artillery fire.
"Whoa!" Mu urgently retreated while simultaneously retrieving his Wired Control Pod. Though he hadn't experienced everything firsthand, he'd seen enough to understand.
It wasn't just Yzak who had grown - after observing Wang Hu's maneuvers numerous times, Mu had picked up a trick or two.
Aiming at the thrusters on the back of the Duel Gundam, Mu attempted to replicate Wang Hu's signature move.
However...
"Don't look down on me so much!"
Yzak cursed angrily in his cockpit before smoothly executing a turn.
Abandoning his confrontation with the waiting Mu, he instead seized this chance to boost past Mu's defensive line.
Without looking back, Yzak charged toward the Eighth Fleet that was continuously launching Escape Pods.
"Damn it!" Mu exclaimed in alarm as he quickly glanced back. Failing to stop the enemy was within his expectations.
But letting a Gundam break through was an entirely different matter from allowing a Gene or CGUE to penetrate their defenses.
"Don't go!" Mu still wanted to pursue, but Dearka wouldn't give him the opportunity.
"Go for it, Yzak!" This time, it was Dearka's turn to intercept the Zero Ginn while piloting the Buster Gundam!
Once Yzak breached the defensive line, he was like a terrier let loose in a room full of stuffed toys -
he went wild with excitement. The automated attacks from the Eighth Fleet's battleships operating on autopilot couldn't harm Yzak in the slightest.
Witnessing this, the Archangel - capable of single-ship atmospheric entry and scheduled to evacuate last -
saw Li Chengzhi and Natarle Badgiruel exchange glances in the bridge. Under Murrue's probing and serious gaze, they shouted in unison:
"Archangel launching! Provide full cover for the Eighth Fleet's retreat!"
Quickly, this advanced battleship stepped forward, using its solitary strength to block the continuously advancing ZAFT Forces Mobile Suits.
"Hahaha, see that, Wang Hu?" Creuset had managed to contain Wang Hu, but still had some way to go before defeating him.
So when he saw the Archangel being forced out to engage in combat, his eyes shifted behind his mask as he attempted to use this news to disrupt Wang Hu's concentration.
"I see it." Wang Hu's calm voice came through their private channel again.
"I also see that Kira is being suppressed by Athrun. But what does that matter?"
"Creuset, what's fake remains fake, what's real remains real. Even a dead real thing is still real."
You think you're the only one who can talk trash? Wang Hu poured his heart out to Creuset.
"..." Creuset's cheerful laughter suddenly vanished. He held psychological advantages over both Kira and Mu.
Neither of those two could fight effectively - so what if he was a clone? This clone could still beat them to a pulp.
Wasn't that something worth being proud of?
But before Wang Hu, Creuset didn't have much psychological advantage. For no other reason than having been bullied too often.
And there was an even more important point - ever since meeting Wang Hu, Creuset always seemed to vaguely see traces of his original self in Wang Hu.
If even a mere clone of myself is this powerful, then the original's strength level should at least be comparable to Wang Hu's, right?
"Those who possess cannot understand the feelings of those who don't, while those without envy those who have."
Murmuring words only he could comprehend, Creuset found his mind unexpectedly calm.
While continuing to direct his subordinates to besiege Wang Hu, Creuset slowly voiced his inner thoughts to him.
"You simply shouldn't exist. Anyone who knows would want to emulate you, to become like you, to be like you. That's why your existence cannot be forgiven."
"Why, Wang Hu? Why can someone like you, who surpasses even the strongest Coordinator, appear in this world?"
"Huh?" Wang Hu was momentarily stunned by Creuset's sudden outburst filled with envy.
But after reflecting on Creuset's tragic fate—how he had even been envious of Kira—it made sense that he would envy Wang Hu now.
In that case...
Observing Creuset, who had just spoken such envious words and was now accelerating his pace in an attempt to shoot him down, Wang Hu glanced at the battle situation near the Eighth Fleet and the Archangel.
"It's time." He took a deep breath, inhaling large amounts of air to oxygenate his brain and sharpen his focus.
Inside his helmet, Wang Hu's eyes grew keen. With a pull of the control stick, the Zeta Gundam's movements abruptly changed.
"What?" The pilot in the CGUE, who had been following Creuset's orders to engage the Zeta Gundam in close combat, narrowed his eyes.
Originally, he had intended to strike and retreat, as he had done many times before—just harassing Wang Hu would suffice.
But now, it seemed impossible!
"Whoosh!" On the cockpit screen, the Red-clothed Elite saw the Zeta Gundam's speed suddenly increase by at least threefold.
A massive Beam Saber now filled the entire screen!
What followed... well, there was no following.
"Boom!" The first casualty in Creuset's unit sent the morale of all the Coordinators besieging Wang Hu plummeting to freezing point.
Had he gotten faster? Just moments ago, Creuset had tried to use his Dragoons to save his subordinate.
But he wasn't as fast as Wang Hu!
"Why is this happening?"
Just earlier, Wang Hu's rhythm had been under his control. How could he suddenly break through the net he had laid?
Creuset didn't understand and had no time to ponder. Manipulating the Dragoons, he attempted to suppress Wang Hu's tempo.
Then, he quickly adjusted his own side's pace to regain control of the battlefield.
"Boom, boom, boom!" But Wang Hu was determined not to give him that chance. Three more explosions lit up as Wang Hu shot down three additional CGUEs.
"This doesn't make sense!" Creuset, inside the Gouf Ignited, widened his eyes, his body turning cold.
He no longer rushed to intercept Wang Hu, instead pulling up the data records of Wang Hu's performance before and after, as well as the Zeta Gundam's initial deployment logs.
Only then did Creuset suddenly realize that Wang Hu had never been fighting at his full strength since the battle began.
He had been suppressing his normal cruising speed to just thirty percent of its capacity.
Making them mistakenly believe that the power Wang Hu had displayed was all he possessed.
Wang Hu had allowed him to believe he had the upper hand, even giving him the illusion of being suppressed!
Everyone's vigilance had been lulled into complacency!
That was why Wang Hu's sudden aggression caught his subordinates and himself off guard.
It created the perception that the enemy's speed had abruptly tripled!
But that was merely their normal speed! That was the true strength the enemy possessed!
Or perhaps they had only been operating at thirty percent of their mobile suit's capacity—why wouldn't this terrifying man just die!
Staring at Wang Hu, who had swiftly and decisively eliminated seven CGUEs in the blink of an eye, Creuset roared with eyes wide in fury.
"Wang Hu!"
"Oh my, I gave you a chance, but unfortunately, you weren't up to the task!"
The Zeta Gundam shifted into MA Mode. Wang Hu, who had set this trap from the very beginning of the battle, accelerated and closed in on Creuset.
As for Creuset's Dragoons?
Even though old Creuset had tried his best, Wang Hu was a master of Dragoons himself.
In his eyes, Dragoons were only good for dealing with grunts; in a true one-on-one duel,
even a seasoned veteran squad leader could disregard them.
With equal mobile suit performance, the outcome was far from certain!
"Creuset, please make your exit today!"
With a gun in his left hand and a sword in his right, Wang Hu was determined to bring the curtain down on Creuset ahead of schedule today.
Trading the entire Eighth Fleet's armaments for Creuset was no loss.
The Zeta Gundam's record deserved a worthy decoration!
"The door... the door hasn't opened yet!"
Creuset, who had intended to use Wang Hu as compensation for failing to completely annihilate the Eighth Fleet, never expected that he would become Wang Hu's compensation for the loss of the Eighth Fleet's armaments.
At this moment, the roles of hunter and prey had reversed. The whims of fate made him feel as if an era had passed in the blink of an eye.
But for the sake of his burning ambition, Creuset mustered his last ounce of strength for a final stand.
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