The light emitted by the Psycho-frame of the Unicorn and the Narrative held a very special significance for Shinn.
To be honest, while he could convince himself to fight machines like the Freedom and Justice, he could not bring himself to fight the Unicorn. Once again, Shinn felt like the filling of a sandwich—trapped between the Unicorn, which had saved him and his sister, and his current job and debts.
"Shinn, if you can't do it, leave it to me..."
As the Minerva passed through the interference channel and crossed the Karman line, Rey—who had been securing his Zaku Warrior by gripping the upper deck of the hangar—finally spoke. Watching the rapidly approaching Unicorn, Rey swiped a glance at his Zaku's remaining battery, gritted his teeth, and released his grip to fly toward the white machine.
Everyone aboard the Minerva knew of Shinn's past experiences. They understood what the Unicorn, or "Phoenix," meant to him. Even Durandal was merely testing Shinn's state of mind. It was clear that Shinn could not fight the Unicorn; or rather, even if he engaged, he would likely remain in a state of "voluntary target," avoiding combat until it ended.
Without a doubt, Shinn's current piloting skills were slightly superior to his own, but since Shinn couldn't fight the Unicorn, the burden fell back onto Rey, the Minerva's "pressure-resistance king."
However, compared to the incoming Unicorn, the prominent "big guy" in the distance drew even more attention from the Minerva's crew.
"That shape, that design language... is it a Minerva-class?" Arthur asked uncertainly, after magnifying the image several times and observing it closely. "But isn't the Minerva the only ship of its class?!"
"Look closer. Although this ship is similar to a Minerva-class, it's only similar in concept. It has far more angular edges than the Minerva." Talia frowned as she instinctively scanned the Nahel Argama's visible armaments. "Furthermore, judging by the amount of weaponry and the size displayed so far... it would have to be some kind of 'Super Minerva-class' at the very least."
"ZAFT currently has no plans for a Super Minerva-class; it must be a coincidence in design philosophy." Although Durandal had known since the "Library Annihilation Operation" that Roz had a warship hidden behind the debris belt, this was the first time he had seen the Nahel Argama in its entirety. "In any case, to recover the Freedom and Justice, we are bound to clash with it."
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While the Minerva was observing the Nahel Argama, the bridge crew of the Nahel Argama, led by Murrue, were also analyzing the Minerva. Large Haro quickly scanned the feeds from the Nahel Argama's cameras, highlighting the Minerva's visible armaments on the bridge screens.
"Is that... ZAFT's new model warship?" Murrue frowned at the streamlined vessel. "Ship, decelerate. Cover the cargo vessel."
"Load Neidhardt space missiles. Pre-heat the Gottfrieds and aim at the target ship!" Natarle Badgiruel commanded after reviewing the Minerva's outward weaponry.
The Nahel Argama slowed down, closing the distance with the cargo ship. The three triple-mounted Gottfried linear cannons on the hull deployed their barrels and rotated to lock onto the distant Minerva.
"The Unicorn has engaged the ZAFT MS!"
"Fire!"
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The speed of the Unicorn was immense. Still frozen on the upper deck of the hangar in his Impulse, Shinn felt that the Unicorn might be even faster than a Core Splendor. And this overwhelming pressure—was this the true aura of the Unicorn?
In contrast to Shinn's chaotic thoughts, Rey, piloting his Zaku Warrior, didn't hesitate. The grey-and-white Zaku raised its machine gun, sending a stream of shells toward the Unicorn, with tracers forming a vivid chain of light across the void.
Roz narrowed his eyes as he watched the Zaku Warrior's assault. He raised the shield on his left arm and continued his charge toward the grey machine. Shells struck the shield, blooming into small clouds of smoke as shrapnel was deflected harmlessly aside.
Seeing the Unicorn holding its shield high and bearing down on him like a high-speed locomotive, Rey's eyes widened. He forced the Zaku Warrior to kill its forward momentum and attempted to climb, trying to evade the Unicorn's flight path.
But a second later, a violent impact occurred. Despite being buckled into his seat, the sudden change in direction nearly threw Rey out of his harness. Even with its thrusters at full power, the Zaku was, after all, only a next-generation mass-production model; the Unicorn's shield slammed into its legs. Upon contact, the monster-like thrust of the Unicorn instantly crumpled the Zaku's lower limbs.
As the Zaku Warrior was sent tumbling, Roz expertly maneuvered the Unicorn into a fluid mid-flight spin. The shield on its left arm swept across the Zaku's torso, causing massive structural deformation.
"Ugh...!"
Piercing cockpit alarms wailed in Rey's ears. The status display was flooded with red warnings, giving him a surreal sense of dread.
"Rey!"
Shinn, who had been engaged with the Freedom, heard Rey's cry and instinctively pulled away from Kira. A moment later, the Justice descended from above, swinging its beam saber and nearly cleaving the Impulse where it had just been standing.
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine... but the machine has taken heavy damage. I'm running diagnostics now... at least the air circulation system is still functional." Rey caught his breath, watching with frantic urgency as the Unicorn continued its approach toward the Minerva. "Shinn, watch out! The Unicorn is heading straight for the Minerva!"
"Wha—How could this happen?!"
At the thought of having to face the Unicorn in a moment, Shinn's movements became frantic. He scrambled to break away from the Freedom and Justice's attack range, rushing back toward the Minerva.
"That pilot... what happened to him?" Kira asked from the Freedom's cockpit, feeling confused by the Impulse's sudden retreat. The combat level the Impulse had displayed earlier was significantly higher than that of standard ZAFT Red Coats, and its tactics had been very composed. This sudden loss of composure was baffling to Kira.
"It's likely because of the Unicorn," Athrun said, feeling a slight sense of relief at the turn of events. "ZAFT has been wary of Roz since the days he piloted the Jegan and Jesta. It's only natural they'd be even more cautious now that he's in the higher-performance Unicorn."
"In any case, while Roz keeps them occupied, let's focus on escorting the cargo ship to rendezvous with the Nahel Argama."
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"High-energy reaction detected... it's coming from that large battleship!"
"Deploy anti-beam depth charges!"
The anti-beam depth charges detonated in front of the Minerva, as thick concentrations of anti beam particles formed an interference field. A total of twelve thick beam blasts streaked past beneath the Unicorn, hurtling toward the Minerva, only to be blocked by the field generated by the charges and dispersed into harmless light.
Watching this, Roz frowned slightly. He maneuvered the Unicorn to raise its right arm. The Armed Armor BS flipped from the side of its forearm to the front, transforming into a weapon resembling a hand cannon.
The crew of the Minerva had already noticed that the Unicorn was not carrying its famous Beam Magnum, opting for this new armament instead. Seeing the machine prepare to use this unknown weapon, tension spiked across the bridge. After all, the sheer destructive power of the Beam Magnum had left a terrifyingly deep impression on everyone.
Blue particles flickered between the two long plates. The Psycho-frame directly intervened, adjusting the concentration of Mirage Colloid particles. While the blue beam appeared as though it might dissipate from between the plates, it remained stable and contained.
Roz slammed the trigger with his thumb. A blue beam shot forth, tracing a jagged, irregular path toward the Minerva. It plunged into the area covered by the anti-beam depth charges and vanished.
"Is that... a prototype weapon?"
Watching the Unicorn's erratic attack, Durandal instinctively frowned. Then, a sudden realization struck him.
"No—wait! Look up!"
As if answering Durandal's shout, the Unicorn raised its arm. The jagged blue beam gradually lifted, carving a distorted arc through space. It bypassed the anti-beam depth charge zone entirely and accurately traced a lethal curve across the Minerva's triple-mounted high-energy beam cannons.
"A... a curved beam trajectory?!"
Accompanying the sound of the explosion was Arthur's cry of absolute disbelief.
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