Archangel, in the hangar.
The "Agni" Hyper Impulse Cannon, part of the assault gun backpack, was hoisted up, and Roz was fiddling with something on a custom stand.
The tripod, painted in the same color scheme as the Hyper Impulse Cannon, was designed by Roz before descending to Earth. He had had a factory on Orb manufacture the parts according to his design. While the Archangel was submerged, he assembled it.
"Roz, why are you assembling a tripod?"
Mu, having just exited the assault cockpit simulator to get some fresh air, saw the scene before him.
"Since the Buster's cannon can be directly linked to a laser nuclear reactor to increase output, the Strike's Hyper Impulse Cannon should also work under the same principle."
Roz didn't look back; he only directed the hoist, placing the modified Hyper Impulse Cannon onto the stand. "I linked the Hyper Impulse Cannon to the Archangel's reactor. Its output is higher than before."
"So… you turned it into a sniper turret?"
Mu raised an eyebrow as he observed the nearly finished setup.
"Only a high-powered beam strike can pierce the defenses of those black MS. I think I already showed you the combat records."
Roz took a wrench from his pocket and began securing it.
"Too bad your MS still runs on high-energy batteries. You can't boost the cannon's power while carrying it."
"Man… I want a nuclear-powered MS too."
Mu put his left hand on his hip, joking lightly.
"Then just keep dreaming for now."
Roz quickly finished securing the turret and smirked. "Right now, for the Earth Forces to use nuclear power, they have to rely on a ship's laser nuclear fusion reactor. Scaling it up or down has huge technical barriers. But if the Earth Forces actually get a Neutron Jammer Canceller, the next second they'd start tossing nuclear bombs, no matter the target."
"True… everyone's acting like they've lost their minds."
Recalling everything up to this point, even Mu couldn't help but sigh.
"Anyway, enough sighing. How's the shooting training I had you do?"
Roz put the wrench back in his pocket and, in a way that would make any safety officer faint on the spot, stepped off the hoist. Feet on the hangar floor, hands gripping the lifting cables.
"The aim is decent… now practicing rapid-fire… wait a second."
Mu froze at that, pointing toward the Unicorn. "That thing isn't yours?"
"I have a better option."
Roz left the hoist and glanced at the Beam Magnum next to the Unicorn.
"Besides, your battery-powered MS will run out of juice during battle. I have to be the vanguard."
The Unicorn, in both output and endurance, far exceeded the Narrative Gundam, giving Roz the confidence for extended combat. However, most of its weapons are beams—against those black MS, he'd still need a ship-cutting sword.
"Damn… don't get cocky! I'll have a nuclear-powered MS one day!"
Mu waved his hand, half jokingly.
"Then don't die before you get one."
Roz casually returned the wrench to the toolbox and looked up at Mu still on the catwalk. "I remember Mayura's quite young. Don't make her a widow before her time."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to die."
Mu gave a thumbs-up. "Because I have the knack of making the impossible, possible."
-----------------------------------
Inside the Kingdom of Foundation, in a training ground, several Black Knights were quietly stationed.
At this moment, a young man with white hair, dressed in black, sat in a cockpit frowning, seeming somewhat uncomfortable.
"Shura, what are you spacing out for?"
A male voice came through the comm: "You haven't met today's training quota yet!"
"…Tch, I have a bad feeling about this."
Shura frowned, sensing a faint yet distinct "killing intent."
"Feels like something big is going to happen today."
The "killing intent" didn't point to anyone in particular, but Shura's subconscious told him that a tough battle was coming today.
"Eh… you're getting premonitions again."
Through the comm, his companion's voice sounded: "It can't be that someone's attacking right under the Earth Alliance's noses…"
Suddenly, a sharp alarm blared across the training ground.
"The Torrington Port leased by Blue Cosmos is under attack by an unknown warship. Black Knight squad, prepare yourselves!"
"…You predicted it again, Shura."
Through the comm, the companions sighed: "Don't tell me it's that White Devil… three of our teammates have already died at his hands."
"More accurately, the White Devil and the sunglasses unit are the same person. We also had companions on the Shamblo, so that makes four deaths."
"…Shut up!"
Listening to the noisy chatter in his ear, Shura gripped the controls of his unit tightly.
To be honest, facing the "White Devil" right now, Shura had absolutely no confidence in winning—after all, there was too little information.
-----------------------------------
"I didn't expect them to actually set up sensors with cables tom combat N interference. That's a major move."
Mu, who had just been training for a short while and had found a feel for shooting, maneuvered the Strike on the Archangel's central deck, braving the spray to operate Roz' modified "sniper cannon."
"After all, it's the area where they've concentrated the most. It's normal for them to try every method to monitor the ocean."
Roz sat in the Unicorn's cockpit, removing the visor from his helmet. "When I destroyed that Blue Cosmos research base, the nearby forces took less than five minutes to arrive."
The Archangel's hangar's securing devices began moving, shifting the Unicorn onto the catapult track.
Roz tapped the touchscreen a few times; the slits on the Unicorn's mask glowed yellow-green, and the mobile suit quickly completed its self-check.
"Phew… the hyper impulse sniper cannon is now linked."
Mu operated the Strike in a half-kneeling stance, controlling the sniper cannon.
"Let me fire the first shot!"
"…Phew, this kind of thing can't be avoided. Time to surface."
Murrue, sitting in the captain's seat, took a deep breath to calm herself and then began commanding the Archangel in battle.
"Launch bays 1 to 6, 19 to 24, anti-MS configuration loaded!"
Inside the CIC, Badgiruel issued the commands with practiced ease.
Compared to the slow response of the crew during training at Earth Alliance headquarters, the Archangel's crew reacted far faster than any Earth Alliance ship.
"The Archangel is surfacing!"
Neumann gently pushed the throttle and pulled the rudder. The Archangel began moving forward at a gentle pace toward the ocean surface.
Light reflected off the sea onto the Archangel and the Strike on the deck. Mu was already in sniper mode, hands on the controls, waiting for an unlucky target to appear in his sights.
The Archangel expelled water from the ballast tanks and gradually surfaced.
As the sniper cannon's muzzle emerged from the water, the sea wind blowing past the cannon cleared it of water. Mu then saw the Torrington Port in chaos ahead, along with the Dagger just dispatched by Blue Cosmos.
Instinctively, he lined up the crosshairs on the Dagger's cockpit and pulled the trigger.
The sniper cannon, specially tuned by Roz, fired. The thick beam left a long splash on the ocean, piercing the Dagger's cockpit precisely, even striking a factory behind it, melting a large hole.
"This is too easy."
Seeing the results, Mu smiled and began searching for the next target.
"Don't get careless, Mu."
At that moment, Murrue spoke over the comm: "Since we've been spotted, we can't scout. We don't know the enemy MS count, whether they have other weapons, or the status of Foundation's MS units."
"I can guarantee, Blue Cosmos has hidden something in these factories."
Hearing Murrue, Roz also spoke: "The defensive measures here are definitely not some small-scale project."
As the Archangel fully surfaced, even entering low-altitude flight, the catapult deck was opened.
Looking at the scene before him, the splashes from shells exploding on the sea disturbed the view like misplaced colors on a painting. Roz took a deep breath instinctively.
"The first wave of attack is coming!"
"Gottfried, engage, fire!"
Over the comm, the bridge erupted with activity.
"The hull is fully surfaced, catapult deck open. Unicorn ready for sortie."
With Miriallia's notification, Roz pushed the throttle.
"Roz Links, Unicorn Gundam, sortie!"
He stepped on the pedal, and the preloaded catapult launched the Unicorn at extreme speed.
Still airborne after leaving the catapult, the "slightly thin" thrusters on the Unicorn's backpack activated. Thick blue flames propelled the Unicorn through the sky.
The sight of such raw thrust served as a bold statement to anyone studying how MS could fly in Earth's atmosphere, proving that MS don't fail to fly because of fundamental design—they just lack output.
The shield in his hand expanded, revealing a lightwave shield familiar to all Archangel crew, blocking fire from the Dagger's beam rifles.
"Artemis Shield?!"
Seeing the lightwave shield on the Unicorn, Murrue was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained her composure.
"Mu, the enemy's firing positions have been marked. Can you fire?"
"I don't have a firing angle!"
Mu pulled the trigger again. Thick beams destroyed two Daggers.
He seemed to be starting to grasp the use of the sniper cannon… or perhaps because the cannon didn't drop over distance?
"I'll deal with them!"
Roz pressed the pedal, raising the Unicorn's altitude significantly. He could clearly see the artillery positions placed by Blue Cosmos.
Roz lifted the beam magnum and pressed the trigger on the right control stick.
Violent energy was constrained and accelerated at the magnum's muzzle, forming a dazzling sphere.
When the energy reached its critical point, a thick beam erupted from the sphere—red, with purple dispersing lightning, like a raging flood, sweeping across the Torrington Port artillery positions.
As Roz moved the gun, the beam scorched and melted everything at the targeted positions.
When the temperature at the target slightly dropped, the area could be seen vitrifying.
Among the terrified Blue Cosmos personnel, two Daggers were sliced apart and exploded just by grazing the purple currents.
"Target achieved."
With the beam magnum's output ended, Roz said over the comm.
"You had this kind of toy and didn't tell us?!"
Seeing the "small gun" on the Unicorn do such damage, Mu, who had just been enjoying his new toy, instantly felt that the sniper cannon wasn't so enticing after all.
"The Unicorn's frame is specially reinforced. If a Strike frame used a beam magnum, the arm would need replacement after one shot."
Roz casually said, starting to look for the next target.
The magnum could fire freely for only fifteen shots; after that, the beam magnum had to be linked to the Unicorn's laser nuclear reactor. Though unlimited use would be possible, the firing frequency must still be controlled.
-----------------------------------
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Activate units one through three!"
At this moment, the Blue Cosmos personnel at Torrington Port, seeing the devastation of their artillery positions, began to take action.
"But… those units haven't even been assembled according to the blueprints—"
"No 'buts'! Now is the time to use these weapons!"
A Blue Cosmos researcher was about to protest, but another researcher grabbed him by the collar.
"And contact the Kingdom of Foundation! Our destruction doesn't help them either!"
Perhaps spurred by the will to survive, the researcher's "units one through three" project was successfully activated.
"Boom, boom, boom…"
The roofs of three massive factory buildings exploded, and three gigantic MAs, like discs with legs, appeared in midair.
On top of these MA's disc-like structures, two twin high-output beam cannons on each began aiming at the Archangel.
"Turn 25 degrees to port, evade!"
Seeing twelve thick beam cannons lined up on the Archangel, Murrue widened her eyes and shouted.
"I'm doing my best!"
Neumann pushed the throttle and manipulated the rudder, causing the Archangel to shift its angle.
"You won't get away with this!"
Mu no longer looked carefree as before. He quickly aimed his beam sniper cannon at one of the twin high-output beam cannons and pulled the trigger.
One of the giant MA's twin beam cannons was destroyed, while the remaining ten large beam cannons simultaneously fired at the Archangel.
Fortunately, Neumann's piloting skill was exceptional, and the Archangel narrowly avoided the attack zone of all ten large beam cannons.
"Phew… good news: the giant MA creators who attacked Orb have been located."
Seeing the dangerous scene, Mu instinctively tightened his grip on the controls.
He looked at the three gigantic MAs, his expression complex.
"Bad news… we have to fight three of those things."
.........