It had to be said that Kira had grown quite fond of the dummy balloons—a tactic popularized by Roz. When a machine like the Strike Freedom, which leaned toward mid-to-long-range combat, was closed in upon, it usually had to rely solely on the pilot's melee skills and beam sabers to duel the enemy.
The addition of dummy balloons as an armament gave Kira much-needed room to maneuver. Successfully circling behind the Unicorn this time was a textbook example of its effectiveness.
However, Kira did not let his guard down. On the contrary, he became even more cautious, deliberately maintaining a specific distance.
Squeezing the trigger with his right hand, the muzzle of the sniper rifle—formed by the two combined high-energy beam rifles—erupted with a red laser indicator beam, streaking toward the Unicorn's propulsion backpack.
Yet, the Unicorn didn't even turn around. The shield mounted on the sub-arm suddenly swung into position, deploying its beam shield directly in the path of the indicator beam. As the laser struck the shield, the machine's sensors emitted a sharp, clear ping.
"Not good!"
Seeing this, Kira manipulated the Freedom to quickly retreat away from the Unicorn.
Although the trajectory of the Armed Armor BS on the Unicorn's right arm was notoriously erratic and difficult to predict, Kira would much rather pit his wits against a strange beam path than engage the Unicorn in close-quarters combat.
-----------------------------------
"Let's stir up some trouble, Unicorn!"
Feeling Kira's brainwaves, Roz locked onto Kira's position and instinctively licked his lips. For some reason—perhaps because he had finally assembled all of the "Banshee's" armaments—Roz was feeling an inexplicable surge of excitement.
The Machine Spirit of the Unicorn clearly sensed Roz's exhilarated brainwaves. Even though this was only a simulation with no killing intent, intended only to test the machine's performance, she still responded to Roz's thoughts, indulging his minor willful streak.
In a daze, Roz felt as if a pair of hands were stretching out from behind him, embracing him. The resonance between the Machine Spirit and Roz was a scene so warm it could touch one's soul.
However, as Kira watched the scene unfolding before him, cold sweat nearly broke out.
The Unicorn did not turn around; it merely tilted its head slightly, facing the Strike Freedom with a profile view. The machine's armor suddenly split open, revealing the Psycho-Frame beneath, which pulsed with a red glow.
Two Shield Funnels, carrying Beam Gatlings and several missiles, detached from the sub-arms. Without any visible thrusters acting upon them, they began to dance and circle around the Unicorn continuously.
This scene reeked so heavily of a "villain" that Kira inexplicably hallucinated the Unicorn as a certain blonde vampire who throws road roller. Though Kira had no idea why—having never seen the relevant media—the image surfaced in his mind nonetheless.
The remaining Dragoons wove a dense net of laser indicator beams, creating a barrier between the Strike Freedom and the Unicorn.
The two Shield Funnels broke away from the Unicorn's side, launching an attack on Kira's Dragoons with an utterly erratic and frenetic speed.
In the simulation training programs and battles against "Amuro," Roz had faced such swift and bizarre Fin Funnels that he had been forced to control his own funnels at matching speeds just to keep up. Of course, battles with "Amuro" weren't limited to just throwing funnels at each other; the close-quarters combat between machines was also an essential experience to savor.
Utilizing the gap created by the Shield Funnels, Roz did not hesitate. He stomped on the pedals, and several thrusters revealed in the Destroy Mode erupted with violent flares, propelling the Unicorn through the "net" of laser indicator beams at incredible speed.
Seeing the Unicorn closing in, Kira grit his teeth. A missile flew from his wing and exploded in front of the Strike Freedom. The custom-ordered, high-fidelity dummy balloons were sufficient to scramble an enemy's vision. Seeing the dense cluster of balloons before him, Kira breathed a small sigh of relief.
But in the next instant, he watched with his own eyes as the claws of the Armed Armor VN tore through a dummy balloon directly in front of him. The Unicorn appeared before him just like that.
Surrounded by a swarm of dummy balloons, the Unicorn deployed the Armed Armor BS on its right arm, aiming it straight at the Strike Freedom.
Kira's pupils shrank. He pressed a button.
Three Dragoons broke off from their dogfight with the Shield Funnels and arranged themselves in a triangular formation in front of the Strike Freedom. Particles flowed between the three Dragoons, forming a faint green shield that blocked the laser indicator beam fired by the Armed Armor BS.
"...I see. So this is one of the new functions Erica and the others mentioned."
Seeing this scene—completely different from how standard Dragoons performed—Roz's eyes widened slightly. While Roz was surprised that the Strike Freedom's Dragoons possessed such functionality, the battle would not halt for it.
After losing the support of those three units, the two Dragoons remaining in the tangle with the two Shield Funnels were eventually caught after several evasive maneuvers. The twin Beam Gatlings beneath the shields spun up, and their laser indicator beams struck the two Dragoons, putting them into a locked state.
The Shield Funnels snapped toward their new target, flying toward the Strike Freedom with an utterly erratic and frenetic speed. The Beam Gatlings spun once more, raining down a torrential storm of dense laser indicator beams upon the machine.
Kira, slightly startled, maneuvered his remaining three Dragoons to move the beam shield into the path of the Shield Funnels, successfully intercepting the barrage. Immediately following this, Kira manipulated the Strike Freedom to draw its training saber and slashed at the space directly in front of him.
Unbeknownst to him, the Unicorn had already appeared before the Strike Freedom. The Armed Armor VN deployed, revealing the palm hidden within, and used it to death-grip the Strike Freedom's arm that held the training saber.
Seeing his counter-attack fail, Kira pressed a button on his control stick. The Multi-phase Beam Cannon on the Strike Freedom's abdomen began to glow faintly, preparing to fire a laser indicator beam.
Roz naturally spotted the anomaly on the Strike Freedom. Without hesitation, he maneuvered the Unicorn to hurl the Strike Freedom aside. However, due to the shift in the machines' positions, the Unicorn's grip on the Freedom's arm slipped.
"Now's my chance!"
Seeing his goal achieved, Kira stomped on the pedals. The wings, having already released all their Dragoons, erupted with brilliant light, propelling the Strike Freedom away from the Unicorn. The sheer force of the thrust actually managed to push the Unicorn back a short distance.
"That's not a 'chance,' kid!"
Faced with an enemy showing their back, Roz certainly wasn't going to let it slide. He raised the Armed Armor BS on his right arm and fired several laser indicator beams at the Strike Freedom.
"Remember: never show your back to an enemy!"
The beams accurately struck the Strike Freedom's wings, shutting down both the activated Voiture Lumière system and the thrusters simultaneously.
"Not good!"
As the Strike Freedom's speed plummeted, Kira maneuvered the unit to turn around, raising the beam rifle in its left hand. But in the next second, a giant "claw" clamped onto the Strike Freedom's waist. A massive surge of thrust forcibly pushed the Strike Freedom backward over a significant distance.
A red light flashed inside the cockpit. Looking at the "LOCKED" status displayed across the Panoramic Monitor, Kira let out a sigh of relief, as if finally accepting the outcome.
"Kira, Out..."
Lacus's voice came through the communication channel.
"Good work, everyone. The machines have been unlocked. Please return."
Cagalli was not on Industrial 7 and thus could not observe this simulation training, so Lacus acted as the referee for the session.
Currently, aside from the one Murasame damaged by Stellar after she got carried away in the heat of the moment, the other machines only sustained minor armor scuffs. They would be ready for the battlefield again after some light armor repairs and a standard maintenance check.
Roz manipulated the Armed Armor VN to release the Strike Freedom. The Dragoons and Shield Funnels scattered across the sector flew back to their respective units.
"You're still not used to this machine yet, are you, Kira?"
Maneuvering the Unicorn back toward the Industrial 7 colony, Roz chatted with Kira over the comms channel.
"Yeah... I'm still unfamiliar with some of the armaments, and the close-quarters combat was a struggle..." Kira sighed.
"The Strike Freedom is a machine with very distinct strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to close-range combat against other units, it demands much higher technical proficiency in MS martial arts than other machines," Roz analyzed, glancing at the Strike Freedom flying alongside the Unicorn. "You really need to practice your CQC techniques, Kira."
"After all, your 'bestie' Athrun won't always be there by your side."
...........