A massive impact brought a sensation of weightlessness. Accompanied by the sight of the sea and sky spinning in a dizzying whirl, the Flag piloted by Graham Aker was kicked away by a ReZEL.
"Ugh, aaaaaah..."
Although Graham was highly skilled in MS close-quarters combat, he felt somewhat at a loss when faced with this sweeping kick delivered by the ReZEL.
After all, among the mainstream MS of the three major powers, both the Hellion and the Flag were specialized for aerial combat, pursuing extreme lightweight designs. The strength of their legs naturally couldn't support maneuvers like kicking.
While the Human Reform League's Tieren possessed sufficient strength, its heavy focus on defensive performance resulted in an absurd armor thickness, making the Tieren's movements appear relatively clumsy and narrowing the tactical application of such kicks.
Graham gritted his teeth and stepped on the foot pedals. The thrusters on the back of the Flag erupted with violent flames; after flipping several times, he finally managed to recover to a normal flight posture.
"So strong... Is this the strength of the Ravens team?"
After this brief exchange, Graham cast aside any trace of contempt.
Even though these three machines appeared to be the mass-produced units of the "Ravens," the pilots inside were incredibly powerful.
He had barely been able to withstand a sudden stop, yet for them, making sharp-angle turns was as simple as drinking water.
But Graham had no time for further observation or maneuvering. The ReZEL squad completed their flanking maneuver at extreme speed, and a storm-like offensive followed immediately.
A beam saber, extending from the muzzle of a beam rifle, clashed once again with the Flag's sonic blade.
"Now's my chance!"
Seeing the opening before him, Graham manipulated the Flag to raise the linear rifle in its right hand and pulled the trigger.
The shells from the machine cannon struck the ReZEL. Blocked by the PS armor, the shells exploded into a series of sparks across the ReZEL's body, but the machine suffered no substantive damage—there wasn't even a scratch on the paint.
"The attack is ineffective?!"
Seeing this, Graham gritted his teeth and pressed a button on the control stick.
A hatch suddenly opened on the Flag's lower leg, and two air-to-ground missiles flew out from the opening, striking the ReZEL directly in front of him.
Taking this opportunity, Graham maneuvered the Flag to retreat sharply, breaking away from the reach of the ReZEL's beam saber.
Facing the point-blank air-to-ground missiles, Louise, sitting in the ReZEL cockpit, slung her beam rifle behind her to prevent the weapon from being damaged and raised the slightly petite shield on her left arm to block.
A violent explosion pushed the ReZEL back. Although the machine was undamaged under the protection of the PS armor, there was still a powerful impact force.
The suit's sensors and data interconnects clearly transmitted the message "High Impact," but under the violent vibration, Louise's expression remained perfectly calm, as if the impact didn't exist at all.
As her teammates, Kakyoin Tsubaki and Evelyn weren't worried about Louise's condition either; after all, an impact of this level wasn't even enough to loosen a single small screw in their bodies.
Huge flames and smoke engulfed Louise's ReZEL, allowing Graham to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
But soon, two continuous purple beams sliced like blades through the Flag's left leg, left arm, and the right rear thruster.
This sudden assault made Graham realize only then that there were three ReZEL units—it was a squad.
Watching the ReZELs, still in WR (Wave Rider) mode, charging at the Flag from above and below, Graham felt beads of sweat form on his forehead.
The loss of his dominant hand and the damage to his thrusters caused Graham's combat effectiveness to drop by more than half.
The destruction of a single-side thruster required extremely delicate operation just to keep the machine balanced... The enemy's objective was crystal clear, and the crippling effect on him was devastatingly efficient.
"Have I been seen through?"
Graham gritted his teeth, his mind racing as he thought of how to break this deadlock.
But in the next second, a beam suddenly pierced through the smoke. The blue-violet beam punched a hole through the thick haze, accurately destroying the Flag's head monitor.
"Since when..."
Looking at the cockpit which had instantly lost its camera signal, Graham urgently switched to the sub-monitors.
The ReZEL that had been hit by the two air-to-ground missiles emerged from the smoke, the lingering clouds trailing sharp streaks in her wake. She held the beam saber extended from her beam rifle and slashed toward the crippled Flag.
In an almost subconscious move, Graham squeezed the trigger on the control stick.
The Vulcan cannons on the Flag's waist cockpit began to spit fire, firing alongside the linear rifle in the right hand toward Louise's ReZEL.
At that moment, Evelyn, piloting her ReZEL, surged toward the Flag from below. Deploying her beam saber as she closed in, she sliced off the Flag's right arm holding the linear rifle in one stroke.
Meanwhile, Kakyoin Tsubaki maneuvered her ReZEL in a curve, severing the Flag's remaining right leg.
In an instant, Graham lost all means of counterattack. He could only watch helplessly as Louise's ReZEL raised its beam saber, drawing closer and closer to the Flag.
"Am I going to die here?"
Graham held down the trigger, futilely firing the machine cannons at the ReZEL, but the shells were all repelled by the PS armor, having no effect whatsoever.
"How frustrating... I haven't even fought a Gundam yet..."
Graham let out a sigh; failing to fight a Gundam was his greatest regret.
Then, in his field of vision, the ReZEL swung the beam saber, cutting through the Flag's... upper body?!
He watched in surprise as the ReZEL sliced the Flag's upper torso diagonally in two, the beam saber nearly grazing the cylindrical cockpit at the waist.
Immediately after, a violent explosion occurred, and the wreckage of the Flag fell into the sea.
The exhaustion from the high-intensity maneuvers in a short time, combined with the massive impact, knocked Graham unconscious instantly.
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"You actually didn't cut the cockpit?"
Evelyn dropped her cold, combat-focused persona and looked down at the wreckage of the Flag falling into the sea. "That's not like you, Louise."
After all, for the MS pilots of the Nahel Argama, learning how to quickly and efficiently destroy an enemy's cockpit was a mandatory course. Furthermore, with the information they had previously gathered from the network... how could they not know where the Flag's cockpit was located?
"He's not from the AEU... and he's not a bastard like those Agents or Blue Cosmos."
With the battle over, Louise flipped back the glass visor of her helmet, her left hand subconsciously reaching toward the storage compartment.
"I can sense it, slightly... that kind of pure emotion, devoid of any ulterior motives or malice."
Likely due to having been affected by the Unicorn Gundam's "Aurora" in the past, the crew members of the Nahel Argama were—even if their physical bodies were reduced to just a brain—slowly evolving into NewTypes.
"Tsubaki, what about you?"
Evelyn didn't comment on Louise's thoughts, instead turning to ask the third member of the team, Kakyoin Tsubaki.
"He fell into the sea and entered a safe zone; unable to lock on to the enemy."
Kakyoin Tsubaki remained silent for a moment before stating her thoughts: "Since the Nahel Argama has already withdrawn to a safe distance, my suggestion is to retreat immediately..."
"Tsubaki, stop watching so many Tokusatsu shows. An MS falling into the ocean isn't 'entering a safe zone.'"
Evelyn let out a helpless sigh. "Besides, the way you put it makes it sound like we're the big villains of some Tokusatsu series."
"Ugh..."
Facing Evelyn's immediate exposure of her hobby, Kakyoin Tsubaki could only let out a small whine of embarrassment.
"Forget it, let's head back."
Evelyn didn't have any better ideas at the moment, so she led the squad back toward the Nahel Argama.
Before leaving, she took one last look at the spot where the Flag had plunged into the ocean.
"You've picked up a second life, unknown UNION pilot."
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A while after the ReZELs had departed, the Flag's cylindrical cockpit—buoyed by a cluster of orange emergency airbags—rose from the seabed and floated onto the surface of the water.
A UNION warship appeared in the distance, immediately spotting the cockpit as it continuously broadcasted an automatic distress signal.
"I didn't expect... that we'd still be too late?"
Seeing the cockpit floating on the sea, Billy Katagiri gripped his communicator. He repeatedly sent communication requests to the cockpit, but with no response, his heart began to sink.
Upon receiving the report that the Flag was engaged in combat, Billy had quickly requested a squad and a warship for support. He never imagined that what would eventually appear before him was a cockpit in emergency deployment mode.
Two speedboats launched from the warship and sped toward the cockpit.
Navy sailors in life jackets pried open the hatch. Taking in the scene inside, they let out a small sigh of relief.
Static... "Researcher Billy, Captain Graham has no visible injuries; he's just fallen unconscious."
The news over the comms allowed Billy to breathe a sigh of relief.
"But to be safe, we suggest a full medical examination."
After all, to these sailors, a powerful MS pilot like Graham was an incredibly precious asset. To avoid losing such a combat force, it was best to be cautious.
"Understood. We've already arranged for doctors here; bring him back."
After Billy finished speaking, he notified the ship's medical staff.
"You've really caused quite a massive headache this time, Graham."
Watching the two speedboats on their return journey, Billy couldn't help but sigh.
Next, in addition to Graham's treatment, they would have to salvage the fragments of the Flag scattered in the ocean.
"Let me see... just who was it that beat you into this state..."
....................