There is no doubt that in an era where PS Armor and beam weapons dominate, FT Armor, which specializes in resisting beams, is a "first-encounter killer." Almost no pilot can find a solution when their primary weaponry is hard-countered, let alone defeat a Black Knight equipped with it.
The only exception was the Unicorn—or rather, its predecessor, the Narrative Gundam (B-Packs), designated "Phoenix." Its pilot had found the weakness of the first-generation Black Knight within minutes of their first encounter and had effortlessly slaughtered it even while the FT Armor was "resurrecting" into its yellow state.
When the pilot switched to the Unicorn, a single shot from its beam magnum could easily obliterate a Black Knight, forcing Shura to face his own utter powerlessness.
As his inner fury burned, Shura felt himself being swallowed by rage directed at both himself and the Unicorn. Although the machine before him wasn't the Unicorn, treating it as a "substitute"—beating it soundly to quiet the anger in his heart—seemed like an excellent alternative.
"Who told you to have a face just like the Unicorn's!" Shura roared. His Black Knight, specifically tuned for close-quarters combat by the Foundation's MS Research Institute after studying the Unicorn's battle style, swung its heavy heat sword repeatedly against the Impulse's shield.
The Foundation researchers had concluded that since the Unicorn acted like a high-performance mid-to-long-range general-purpose machine, close combat would be their advantage. If they could seal away that monstrous beam magnum by engaging at point-blank range, the Unicorn would be manageable. Or so they thought.
The glaring issue, however, was that Shura and his Black Knight couldn't keep up with the Unicorn's flight speed. More accurately, Shura couldn't withstand the G-forces generated at those speeds even with his best efforts.
"Whoa, the beam rifle isn't working... is it some kind of shield-like material?" Shinn, completely unaware of the FT Armor's properties, could only use his Force Silhouette to maneuver around the Black Knight.
However, confirming that the beam rifle was ineffective only ignited Shinn's instincts. "I don't know what's up with this pitch-black MS, but I'll just have to chop it down!" Frustrated by being forced to defend constantly, Shinn snapped. "Meyrin, give me the Sword Silhouette!"
Instead of retreating to soften the impact of the strikes, the Impulse slammed its shield forward, initiating a heavy bash against the Black Knight. Since a sword strike requires space to generate force, the bash effectively neutralized Shura's swing.
"That shield usage... as expected, it has his shadow!" Seeing how the Impulse used its shield, Shura wasn't deterred. Instead, he laughed maniacally, using the Black Knight's right hand—still holding its beam rifle—to smash against the shield.
As the rifle grip collided with the shield, Shura leveraged the movement to hook his arm upward, trying to bypass the defense. But Shinn didn't panic; he pushed his shield up to jam the motion while his feet worked the pedals to shift the machine's angle.
The Impulse struck the Black Knight's arm with the top of its shield, forcing its posture to break, and used the momentum to spiral around the Black Knight and create distance.
The shield retracted, and the Force Silhouette automatically detached and flew back toward the Minerva. The Sword Silhouette, which had been waiting, quickly docked with the Impulse's back. Shura stabilized his machine only to see a red Impulse with its PS Armor fully active.
"Red... Red... That's right, the Unicorn turns red too!" Seeing the red Sword Impulse, Shura froze for a second before bursting into laughter. "Truly, you are the best substitute!"
The Black Knight raised its heavy heat sword. Shura ignored the fact that the Impulse had drawn two Anti-Ship Swords and slammed his foot onto the thruster pedal.
Though he couldn't match the Unicorn, the Black Knight's assault speed was brilliant on this battlefield. While it didn't leave a trail of red light, its blue vernier flames dragged behind it as it closed in. The heavy heat sword crashed against the Anti-Ship Sword's edge. The clash of beam blades scattered particles like "sparks," creating a magnificent firework in the night sky.
Shura didn't stop. He circled the Impulse, flew a short distance, and then snapped the machine around to charge at the Impulse's rear.
"Ugh..." Shura's teeth clenched against the G-force of the sudden turn. Not enough! At this speed, how can I ever catch the Unicorn?! He pushed the pedal even deeper, and the Black Knight's thrusters roared with increased intensity.
Almost instinctively, Shinn raised the Impulse's left hand, positioning the Anti-Ship Sword behind its back so the beam edge faced the incoming Black Knight.
CLANG—!
A shockwave far more violent than before traveled through the frame. Although Shinn managed to bleed off some of the momentum, he was still badly shaken.
"Now's my chance!" Without giving the Black Knight time to maneuver, the Impulse swung its second Anti-Ship Sword around, slamming it into the back of the Black Knight's blade and knocking it aside.
The Black Knight performed a mid-air flip to stabilize its posture and charged again. The Impulse met the challenge, two massive swords clashing against the black knight's heavy blade.
Both pilots realized they had met their match; they would have to break the deadlock through pure melee skill.
"Melee is my advantage!" both Shinn and Shura thought simultaneously, pushing their machines to the limit.
But the stalemate couldn't last. Meyrin's voice broke through the Impulse's cockpit.
"Shinn! The Earth Alliance fleet is approaching! Captain Talia orders an immediate retreat!"
"Retreat?! Now?!" The news broke Shinn's concentration, and his piloting became slightly sluggish.
"A window!" Shura's eyes widened with manic joy. He manipulated the heat sword to catch the edge of the Anti-Ship Sword, further destabilizing the Impulse's stance.
"Damn it!" Shinn tried to recover to dodge the next strike.
"Die! You with the Unicorn's face!" Caught in the heat of battle, Shura forgot Orphee's orders and raised his sword for a lethal blow.
"Shura! Stop!" Orphee's stern voice boomed through the Black Knight's comms. "The order is to drive them away, not shoot them down. Do not do anything unnecessary!"
The authority in Orphee's voice—etched deep into Shura's subconscious—snapped him out of his trance. As the Chief Instructor, Orphee's orders were absolute.
An upward slash would surely sever the Impulse's torso, violating the order. Thinking fast, Shura's smile turned twisted. He pulled back the sword and instead had the Black Knight lunge forward with a brutal "football kick" to the Impulse's midsection.
"Gwah...!"
Focused entirely on the sword, Shinn had no time to react to the kick. The Impulse was sent tumbling across the sky, eventually crashing onto the deck of the Minerva, nearly crushing Lunamaria's Zaku Warrior.
"Time's up, retreat!" Talia commanded. Seeing the Impulse kicked back like a ball was hard to swallow, but escaping before the Earth Alliance completed their encirclement was the priority.
Besides, Talia thought, Shinn will definitely go into a training frenzy after this. Getting beaten might not be a bad thing for him.
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Watching the Minerva cross beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Foundation, Shura sat in the Black Knight, panting heavily. His mind was still replaying the duel with the Impulse.
"Phew... phew... I did it?"
Only after multiple self-confirmations did Shura reach that conclusion: he had indeed triumphed over a Gundam.
"That's right, I succeeded. I defeated that machine—the one with a face just like the Unicorn's and that similar PS Armor..."
At the thought, Shura couldn't help but burst into loud laughter inside the cockpit, muttering like a madman.
"Haha... even if it was just a substitute, I'm so happy!"
"Next will be the other machines with that face, then the Phoenix, and finally, the Unicorn itself!"
Completely disregarding that his comms were still active, Shura spoke with a neurotic edge. "I'll kill you. I must kill you to become myself again! Unicorn!"
Hearing Shura's words over the transmission, Orphee, sitting in the tactical conference room, frowned.
Becoming mentally unstable under the pressure of Torrington Syndrome and the Unicorn, is he...? It seems he definitely needs psychological counseling.
Perhaps I should let him participate in "Mother's" research project? After all, Shura is desperate for more power right now...
"Shura, it's time to retreat," Orphee said into the microphone, rubbing his temples.
"Go for a checkup as soon as you return. I want to see your evaluation report!"
"...Yes, understood."
As if a switch had been flipped, the previously laughing Shura suddenly fell silent and calm.
The demons dancing in his heart returned to their cells, satisfied for now, waiting for the next time an entity called "Gundam" would unlock their doors and set them loose once more.
..........
(T/N: May this year outshine the last—let's go!)