Shin was fully aware of his shooting skills. Indeed, aside from being fast, his accuracy was merely good enough not to miss the target completely.
But that was enough. Combat was not a static target competition. If one shot didn't work, fire another. Destroying the enemy as quickly as possible was the correct choice.
Moreover, the enemy was the Earth Forces—the ones who destroyed his peaceful life and killed his parents. Driven by hatred and the lure of prize money, Shin felt absolutely no psychological burden in taking action.
After suffering the Impulse's attack, three of the Daggers flying toward the Minerva broke off and headed for the Impulse.
Shin almost instinctively fired one shot at each of the three Daggers. Three beams erupted from the rifle's muzzle and flew toward them.
The Dagger charging ahead was hit in the torso and exploded in mid-air. The remaining two Daggers blocked the shot with their shields.
With shields that were now significantly damaged, the two Daggers seemed to have formulated some kind of tactic, flying toward the Impulse one behind the other, like a train.
"You think I'm just a flying sharpshooter?!" Shin grinned, having only glanced at the Daggers' formation. "Don't look down on me!"
He aimed the rifle at the leading Dagger and fired three consecutive shots, maneuvering the Impulse to rush toward the two Daggers.
The already damaged shield on the Dagger's hand was only able to block one shot before shattering. The remaining two shots hit the Dagger's torso and right arm, causing it to explode in mid-air.
The last Dagger in the squad saw the explosion in front of it and reached for the beam saber on its backpack.
But in the next moment, the Impulse burst out of the explosion's firelight, trailing a few wisps of smoke clinging to its frame, appearing directly in front of the Dagger, which had just drawn its beam saber but hadn't yet reacted.
The Impulse raised its left hand. The beam saber, already drawn at some point, extended its blade. Its thrusters erupted in violent flames, propelling the mobile suit forward at extreme speed, ultimately colliding with the Dagger.
The Impulse's beam saber easily pierced the Dagger's waist. Shin unhesitatingly maneuvered the Impulse to slash the beam saber upward, splitting the Dagger in front of him from the abdomen to the head.
Then, as if losing power, the Impulse tilted sideways and plummeted from the sky, diving toward the ocean, which had been disturbed by the battle.
Before the suit hit the water, Shin adjusted the machine's posture. The Impulse's propulsion backpack flared again, driving the mobile suit to fly toward the Minerva.
Near the Minerva, two ZAKU Warriors, one red and one white, had already launched and were engaging the remaining six Daggers.
"Hunting time!"
Shin locked his sights on the Daggers in the sky and squeezed the trigger on the control stick.
The sudden attack from below caused the evasive movements of the Daggers to become distorted. Two of the Daggers, unable to dodge quickly enough, crashed directly into the beam.
The gray-and-white ZAKU Warrior pilot, Rey Za Burrel, frowned. The MS heavy machine gun in his hands tore into a Dagger, which had momentarily stalled while dodging the beam attack from below, turning it into Swiss cheese.
"Rey, that counts as my assist! Remember to write it in the report!"
Shin's voice came over the comms, causing Rey to sigh.
To Shin at this moment, destroying a mobile suit meant a full bonus, while an assist meant a 30% bonus. Even though the assist bonus was small, every little bit counted!
"The unit has combat footage, I'll include it in the report." Rey looked at the remaining Daggers and maneuvered his gray-and-white ZAKU Warrior towards Lunamaria's unit. "Right now, we need to focus on destroying these Earth Force MS and the patrol fleet."
"I know, I know... but the battle should be over soon, it's just a small patrol fleet... Ah, one is gone." Hearing Rey's words, Shin subconsciously glanced at the distant fleet.
Since this was only an Earth Force patrol fleet, it consisted of one MS carrier and two standard Earth Force naval warships.
One of the conventional Earth Force naval warships was pierced by a shell hurled from the Minerva's triple-barrelled 'Isolde' solid projectile turret. The shell caused a violent explosion inside the hull, which in turn detonated the unlaunched Hell-Dart anti-air missiles, ripping the entire ship into several pieces.
Meanwhile, Lunamaria, piloting the red ZAKU Warrior, shield-charged the Dagger immediately in front of her, sending it flying backward.
While the Dagger was still struggling to reorient itself, the red ZAKU Warrior's thrusters abruptly fired, moving the machine back a short distance.
Then, the unit pulled out the long-range sniper cannon from its back, aimed it at the Dagger, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Long-range sniping might be inaccurate, but at this distance, you can't dodge!"
Lunamaria gritted her teeth, watching the Dagger melt and explode under the attack of the beam sniper cannon, and maneuvered her unit back to the deck atop the Minerva's hangar.
It was worth noting that while Lunamaria's general shooting skill was average, and her sniping ability fluctuated, her melee combat test scores were higher than Shin's. That shield-charge was her first kill record in this battle.
"Humidity, velocity... check. It's a hit!"
Lunamaria skillfully crouched her ZAKU Warrior, aiming at the two Earth Force warships that were preparing to retreat in the distance.
Seeing that the Daggers they sent out were almost all destroyed and one conventional warship had been sunk, they decided not to continue the fight. Although they wanted to delay until their main forces arrived, they clearly lacked the capability now, making retreat the best option.
As for recovering the MS? It was too late. The remaining two Daggers were each sliced in half by the Impulse, which, after drawing its beam sabers, was tearing through them like a mad dog.
After completing the calculation, Lunamaria pulled the trigger without hesitation. A thick beam of light erupted from the muzzle, hitting the hull of the other conventional warship precisely.
The thick armor was penetrated as easily as paper meeting running water under the beam's bombardment. The high temperature ignited the warship's ammunition depot, causing a massive explosion that tore a huge hole in the ship.
Lunamaria breathed a slight sigh of relief, watching the seawater rush into the Earth Forces' warship.
This was her second kill record in this battle.
The Minerva's missile launchers also fired several anti-ship missiles, which trailed smoke and penetrated the top of the last remaining Earth Force warship, destroying the ship entirely.
"Recover the mobile suits quickly and deploy smoke screens!"
Natarle sighed in relief after seeing the last warship destroyed. "The ship is turning to the two o'clock direction. We'll take a roundabout route to the Kingdom of Foundation."
"A roundabout route? Shouldn't we be heading to the Kingdom of Foundation at the fastest speed possible?" Arthur Trine was puzzled, seemingly not understanding Natarle's arrangement.
"Because Earth is completely under the control of the Earth Forces right now. The Kingdom of Foundation is a secret asset we established, and we cannot expose it."
Durandal, who had witnessed the entire battle, spoke up. "In short, for the sake of future operations, we cannot expose the Kingdom of Foundation's relationship with us."
"I see... I understand." Arthur scratched his head, accepting Durandal's explanation.
As the three mobile suits were recovered into the hangar, thick smoke erupted from the Minerva's hull. Dispersed by the sea breeze, the entire warship disappeared into the smoke screen.
-----------------------------------
The Nahel Argama returned to Industrial Seven smoothly, retracted its wings, and docked steadily in the dry dock.
Chief Engineer Erica Simmons, who had previously been in charge of the M1 Astray's development, had been waiting there for a long time.
The Strike was loaded into a transport container and transferred from the Nahel Argama onto a transport vehicle by the Haros.
"Haros... has their logic been changed... No, are they victims?"
Upon seeing the Haros at work, Erica instinctively thought Roz Links had modified the operating logic of the AI Haros. But recalling what Roz Links had said during the brief meeting after Lacus and the others arrived at Industrial Seven, she knew exactly what these Haros were.
Perhaps, compared to Blue Cosmos's wetware, these Haros were relatively fortunate to be able to move freely and connect to the network at any time...
"Are the parts and materials ready?"
Roz Links, who had just disembarked the Nahel Argama and approached Erica, asked straightforwardly.
"They've been ready for a while, but are you sure about giving us the parts blueprints like this?" Erica sighed, looking at Roz Links. "After all, Kira's situation..."
"The Neutron Jammer Canceller is no longer a secret. The Earth Forces are undoubtedly using it now." Roz Links looked at Erica, his tone serious. "The next step will inevitably be the appearance of a large number of nuclear-powered mobile suits. The Strike's high-energy battery must be upgraded."
"I see. Then let's get moving quickly. The new battery interface is already prepared; you just need to swap it in." Erica pointed toward a nearby vehicle, watching the Strike gradually being moved away. "Also... Kira and the others have been waiting for some time."
Once Roz Links and Mu boarded the vehicle, Erica stepped on the gas, following the transport truck toward Morgenroete, Inc.'s MS research and development center on Industrial Seven.
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