After a day of travel, the Nahel Argama arrived at the target area sent by Lowe Guele.
But clearly, before their arrival, Lowe Guele, who was waiting there, had already engaged the people pursuing him.
"Is that... the Strike?!"
Murrue Ramius and Natarle Badgiruel both widened their eyes, looking at the five blue and white mobile suits surrounding the Red Astray and another Blue Astray, marked with "Strike?" symbols.
"That modification... is too reckless. Can the Strike's shoulders even handle that?" Mu La Flaga, already seated in his Strike Gundam, couldn't help but feel surprised looking at the enemy units.
"Such reckless modification..."
Roz Links glanced at the few blue and white Strikes, noting that the mobile suits had completely abandoned shooting capability, focusing entirely on close-quarters combat modifications. "It feels like they didn't even read the instruction manual."
As Roz Links spoke, the Haro in the hangar controlled the transfer mechanism, placing the secured Unicorn onto the lift platform. The lift platform smoothly transported the Unicorn to the catapult deck.
One by one, the electromagnetic accelerators rose, forming a launch channel. The restraints used to stabilize the Unicorn's center of gravity expanded, then retracted below the launch deck.
Looking at Lowe Guele's "Re.H.O.M.E." being besieged by five blue and white modified Strike mobile suits in the distance, Roz Links instinctively took a deep breath.
"Roz Links, Unicorn Gundam, launching."
Stepping on the pedals, the Unicorn slightly bent its knees. The catapult received the signal and activated. The mobile suit rapidly advanced along the electromagnetic acceleration channel until it reached the end of the launch deck, disengaging from the launch apparatus.
The Unicorn's thrusters, which appeared relatively small compared to other mobile suits, erupted in thick flames, propelling the Unicorn toward the battlefield at extreme speed.
Looking at the five mobile suits highlighted by the panoramic cockpit, Roz Links skillfully opened Lowe Guele's communication channel.
"Hello, hello, this is Lowe Guele's Junk Guild. Right now... it's not a good time to talk. You can leave a message..."
In the communication, Lowe Guele's voice was interspersed with sounds of impact and mobile suit alarms.
"Lowe, get out of the way!"
Roz Links raised the Beam Magnum in the Unicorn's hand, took a moment to aim, and pulled the trigger.
"Eh?"
Lowe Guele clearly recognized Roz Links' voice through the communication. Although he didn't know why, Lowe Guele subconsciously retreated.
Suddenly, a thick red beam appeared from the side of the battlefield, precisely hitting one of the blue and white Strike mobile suits.
This Strike, caught in the red beam torrent, lasted only a few seconds before its armor dissolved and vanished into the beam.
High-energy current sliced through the other Strikes near the red beam. Lowe Guele watched with his own eyes as a blue and white Strike raised the shield on its back—used as a balancing wing—in a futile attempt to block the purple high-energy current.
But the shield was sliced in half by the high-energy beam. The purple current struck the blue and white Strike, severing the massive sword in the unit's hand, along with the shoulder armor modified from an Aile Striker pack, which detonated the unit's internal high-energy battery.
With just a single Beam Magnum shot, three blue and white Strikes were destroyed.
"Such... such powerful force..." Lowe Guele instinctively gasped, staring at the exploding wreckage.
"That kind of power... is indistinguishable from the main cannon of the two major factions' battleships, and it might even be stronger than some of their main cannons."
At this moment, the pilot of the Blue Astray spoke up through Lowe Guele's communication channel.
Apparently sensing the threat of the Unicorn, the remaining two blue and white Strikes abandoned their attack on Lowe Guele and the "Re.H.O.M.E." and flew toward the Unicorn instead.
One of the blue and white Strikes drew the beam rifle mounted on its rear waist and continuously fired at the Unicorn.
Roz Links didn't even bother to maneuver the Unicorn to dodge. He skillfully raised the shield on its left arm, activated the beam shield, and blocked the incoming particle beams.
"Roz! Don't fire your beam rifle again! Otherwise, your beam will pass through that unit and hit the Plant agricultural colony!"
Just as Roz Links was about to raise the Beam Magnum, Lowe Guele's voice came through the communication.
Roz Links clicked his tongue and had no choice but to retract the Beam Magnum.
It seemed that was exactly the effect they desired. One blue and white Strike flew past the firing unit, its rear thrusters emitting a fierce flame as it rapidly boosted towards the Unicorn.
The Unicorn was already flying toward the battlefield at high speed, and the distance between the two mobile suits quickly closed. The blue and white Strike skillfully swung the red and blue greatsword in its right hand at the Unicorn, accurately striking the Unicorn's shield.
"Hmm?"
Roz Links narrowed his eyes, seeing the high-frequency vibration warning displayed in the panoramic cockpit. He pulled the control stick and tapped the foot pedal.
The Unicorn slightly angled its shield, allowing the high-frequency vibrating greatsword to slide past the side of the shield. The Unicorn then circled around to the right side of the blue and white Strike.
Next, the Unicorn flipped its left hand, which held the shield, and grabbed the blue and white Strike's right forearm. The mobile suit then spun counter-clockwise at extreme speed.
Under the sudden, powerful force, the blue and white Strike's Phase Shift armor, whose performance had been weakened to accommodate the modifications, instantly overloaded and shut down. The entire arm, along with the red and blue greatsword it held, was ripped off by the Unicorn, and the remaining unit was flung away.
Following the direction of the Unicorn's force, this one-armed blue and white Strike crashed into the beam fire directed at the Unicorn by the other, still intact Strike. Fortunately, the shield linked by a mechanical arm on its backpack was quickly raised, blocking the incoming beams.
But before the pilot of the disarmed Strike could sigh in relief, the Unicorn retracted its Beam Magnum. A beam saber extended from the forearm of its right arm, accurately plunging into the cockpit of the Strike.
The Strike, having served with the Archangel for a long time under two pilots (Kira and Mu), meant Roz Links naturally knew the approximate location of its cockpit.
However, considering this was a heavily modified unit, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the cockpit location had been changed.
Thinking this, Roz Links narrowed his eyes. The Unicorn's right hand quickly moved back and forth, slicing the blue and white Strike in half. The high-energy battery in the modified Aile Striker pack on the unit's back was detonated, causing the entire mobile suit to explode.
The Unicorn burst out of the flames created by the explosion, charging toward the last remaining blue and white Strike. Its pure white armor remained spotless, untouched by smoke or dust.
As the Unicorn's hand grasped the red and blue greatsword, the universal interface began automatically adapting to the sword's connector and reading the weapon's specific information.
Looking at the information displayed in the panoramic cockpit, Roz Links couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
This weapon, named the Wing Saw Anti-Ship Sword, could analyze the hardness of an enemy's armor during brief contact and adjust its own vibration frequency. Simply put, it was a high-frequency vibration weapon.
Clearly, this Anti-Ship Sword was the main armament of these modified blue and white Strikes, sacrificing the Strike's versatility with other packs to fully enhance its close-combat performance.
"Roz! These units, called the Gale Strike, are the handiwork of the Librarian Works I told you about!" Lowe Guele's voice came through the communication, clearly still reacting to the sudden turn of events.
"I can tell. This unit has even worse center-of-gravity issues than the Duel."
Roz Links casually operated the pedals. The Unicorn's attitude control thrusters continuously adjusted, allowing the mobile suit to execute several barrel rolls, evading the shots from the sole remaining Gale Strike.
The pilot of the Blue Astray had clearly recovered and continuously fired at the Gale Strike, disrupting its movements.
After narrowly dodging the Blue Astray's shots, the surviving Gale Strike realized the Unicorn was about to enter its advantageous combat range. It discarded its beam rifle and drew the Anti-Ship Sword from its waist, which doubled as a balancing wing.
Immediately after, the Anti-Ship Sword in the Unicorn's left hand, seized from the previously destroyed Gale Strike, was brought down upon the remaining enemy.
The immense power provided by the miniaturized nuclear reactor of the Archangel battleship, coupled with the unit's increased output, was several times greater than that of the close-combat-specialized Gale Strike. In the instant they connected, the Gale Strike extended its second Anti-Ship Sword to block the Unicorn's blade, resisting the powerful impact.
The next moment, the Unicorn raised the Anti-Ship Sword again and slammed it down onto the two opposing blades, sending the close-combat specialist unit flying backward.
Its thrusters erupted in thick flames, and the Unicorn rapidly closed the distance to the Gale Strike. The beam saber on the forearm of its right arm once again plunged precisely into the Gale Strike's cockpit.
Subsequently, the Gale Strike was cleanly sliced into two halves by the Unicorn's beam saber, from head to toe.
-----------------------------------
"We're saved, we're saved..."
Standing on the Nahel Argama's catapult deck, Lowe Guele, piloting the Red Astray, wiped the sweat from his brow.
"If you had been one step later, I might have died."
"Judging by your sheer dumb luck, you probably wouldn't have." Roz Links maneuvered the Unicorn, placing the salvageable Anti-Ship Swords recovered from the battlefield onto the catapult deck, letting the Haros control the engineering equipment to collect these spoils.
Roz Links intended to see if he could reverse-engineer any interesting weaponry from these Anti-Ship Swords, which is why he brought them back as samples.
"Speaking of which, is this your new battleship? It's magnificent... it's more than double the size of the Re.H.O.M.E.." Lowe Guele carefully observed the Nahel Argama, looking surprised. "But... why does your battleship look so much like ZAFT's newest ship?"
"It's just possible that their designer and I came up with similar ideas. After all, you know, no matter how varied human aesthetics become, there will always be a basic point of similarity..."
Before setting out, Roz Links had been asked about the Nahel Argama several times by Andrew, Lacus, and Athrun, so he habitually recited his prepared explanation.
"I don't really get it... but I think what you mean is that the aesthetic principles of steel creations are mutually recognizable." Lowe Guele gave Roz Links a thumbs-up through the communication. "I totally understand that feeling."
"Good that you understand... So, how should I address this gentleman?" Although Roz Links felt Lowe Guele might have misunderstood something, he took the opportunity to end the topic about the Nahel Argama and turned his attention to the Blue Astray next to them.
"...Gai Murakumo, mercenary of the Serpent Tail." The pilot of the Blue Astray stated his name.
"...Lowe, can he be trusted?" At the mention of the title "mercenary," Roz Links narrowed his eyes.
"Or is this mercenary just fighting here because of a specific commission?"
"Gai Murakumo is someone you can trust, I guarantee it." Lowe Guele's tone was very serious when responding to Roz Links' question. "He is voluntarily fighting alongside me against that Librarian Works."
Lowe Guele had always been perceived as an image of a hot-blooded idiot, but as his friend, Roz Links could certainly recognize his serious state.
Lowe Guele was very earnest about the matter of trust.
"...Since you trust him so much, then come in together." Roz Links was silent for a moment before making his decision. "Welcome to the Nahel Argama."
"Separately, I hope you don't betray Lowe's trust, Mr. Murakumo."
Roz Links said this line privately to Gai Murakumo in the Blue Astray after disconnecting Lowe Guele's communication channel.
Gai Murakumo was silent for a long time in the communication before finally answering.
"...Betrayal is not an option for me."
....................