In the airspace of T.N.T. Cannon No. 1, firelight interlaced. Wrapped in the green radiance of a GN Field, the Rainbow Ship hugged the solar power generation track, flying rapidly toward T.N.T. Cannon No. 1.
"Tch, nothing but cheap tricks." Arthur Goodman, who was responsible for guarding T.N.T. Cannon No. 1, had a grim expression, but he soon broke into a cruel sneer. "Well, whatever. Appearing of your own accord saves me the trouble of looking for you. Interception fleet, begin firing! Push it into the T.N.T. Cannon's effective range!"
"Understood!" several voices replied.
The ship cannons of the warships and the heavy beam cannons of the Xianzhen II units rained down ruthlessly on the GN Field like hailstones. Although they failed to penetrate the GN Field's defense, their immense force pushed the Rainbow Ship to the right bit by bit.
"Distance to the satellite weapon's sweep range: 14!"
"Steady... steady..."
Sumeragi looked calm, her eyes fixed on the T.N.T. Cannon directly ahead.
"T.N.T. Cannon, electronic charging complete!"
"Prepare to fire."
Arthur Goodman also remained composed, waiting for the Rainbow Ship to be pushed into the T.N.T. Cannon's sweep range, aiming to destroy it in one go at the optimal moment.
Soon, the massive Rainbow Ship was forced into the T.N.T. Cannon's sweep range by the intense barrage.
"The Rainbow Ship has entered the sweep range of the enemy satellite weapon!"
The hits sustained by the Rainbow Ship became increasingly violent, and the vibrations grew more intense. However, Sumeragi still gave no orders, her eyes glued to the front.
"Ms. Huang!"
"Not yet... not yet..."
"But..."
"Not yet!" No matter how much her comrades urged her, Sumeragi remained steady. She had to seize the exact moment the T.N.T. Cannon fired. Otherwise, if they used their Trans-Am trump card too early to return to the safe zone, the T.N.T. Cannon would terminate its firing sequence, and there would be no energy-recharging interval for them to approach it.
Just then, the T.N.T. Cannon finished its firing preparations, its three resonance mirrors overflowing with radiance.
"T.N.T. Cannon, fire!"
At the same moment Arthur Goodman gave the order, the Rainbow Ship's energy sensors reached the threshold: "Ms. Huang, now!"
"Lyle!"
"Boom—!!"
A thick, lethal torrent surged forth, engulfing the Rainbow Ship's position in the blink of an eye and racing into the distance, grazing the solar power satellites along its path.
For a moment, everyone stopped moving. Setsuna and the others, who had arrived in the combat zone early to draw away the Innovator-piloted Gadessas, also watched the surging torrent of energy with piercing gazes.
Sumeragi's tactic was bold and thrilling. Even though they trusted her, they couldn't help but feel nervous.
The light of the residual energy torrent gradually faded. The first shot of the T.N.T. Cannon was over.
"Firing complete!"
"Hmph, now we just wait for Captain Kyle and the others to take out those Gundams..." Arthur Goodman's lips curled into a smirk. Celestial Being's mothership had been destroyed by him; only a few Gundams remained. Furthermore, they were pinned down by the Innovators and surrounded by a massive army—how could they possibly escape? The credit was already in his hands; he just had to wait for his promotion and fortune...
"Bri... Brigadier General!"
"Hmm? What is it? Report directly if there's a problem!"
"It's... it's the enemy ship!"
"What!?"
Looking through the window, a red meteor descended from above, once again hugging the satellite orbit. Wrapped in an eerie red light and trailing long afterimages, its speed was even faster than before.
"How... how is this possible!?" Arthur Goodman was horrified. The T.N.T. Cannon was a beam particle weapon; how could such a massive warship have dodged it?
"Brigadier General! The signals for Captain Gore and Captain Witt's Gadessas have been lost!"
"How can that be!? Fire at the enemy ship immediately! Recharge the T.N.T. Cannon! Quick... contact the guards of the other T.N.T. Cannons to come and support us!"
The Rainbow Ship had used some unknown method to dodge the T.N.T. Cannon's sweep, and the powerful Innovators piloting the Federation's most cutting-edge mobile suits had been killed. As common sense was shattered piece by piece, Arthur Goodman panicked. He immediately ordered all defensive fleets to intercept the Rainbow Ship and, thoroughly terrified, demanded more reinforcements from the other T.N.T. Cannon defense units to give himself a sense of security.
This was exactly what Sumeragi had expected.
"Ms. Huang, we've intercepted an enemy telegram. The enemy commander is requesting aid from T.N.T. Cannons 2, 3, and 4. Enemy reinforcements are already on their way!"
"Good!" Sumeragi threw an excited punch. This operation could now be declared a success.
This plan had been very risky, with many uncertain factors. First, whether Setsuna, Kira, Athrun, and the others could draw the Innovators away from the T.N.T. Cannon. Second, whether the Rainbow Ship, with its Trans-Am system activated, could dodge the T.N.T. Cannon. Third... whether the enemy commander would draw reinforcements from the other three T.N.T. Cannons.
All three uncertain factors had been resolved. All that remained was to persist until the operation's completion.
"The enemy's rear fleet has entered the Rainbow Ship's firing range!"
"Activate the Lohengrin! Activate the Gottfried and Valiant! Load all missile launchers with anti-ship missiles! Clear all enemies blocking the path!"
"Understood!"
The hatches on the lower sides of the Rainbow Ship's deck opened, and two menacing, massive cannon muzzles extended. Energy gathered, radiance shone, and a destructive torrent of interlaced blue, white, and red erupted. The mountain blocking their path was torn open by two massive gaps. Whether they were Xianzhen II units or Begal-class warships, they were all ruthlessly consumed, blossoming into fireworks in the void of space.
As the destructive torrent receded, thick pink beams followed closely behind, and missiles scattered, enveloping the enemy fleet from all directions.
"Red, red, red, red..."
In almost the blink of an eye, the enemy's tight defensive formation was torn open with a massive gap. There was now nothing blocking the way between the Rainbow Ship and the T.N.T. Cannon.
"T.N.T. Cannon has entered Raphael's firing range!"
"Third deck hatch opening! Raphael and Exia, enter attack stance!"
The catapult deck hatch in the center of the Rainbow Ship's forward lower hull opened. Raphael knelt on the deck, and the two large GN Cannons on its backpack rotated and deployed.
"Trans-Am! GN Drive at maximum output..."
Raphael was dyed red as countless GN Particles gathered, coalesced, and compressed within the large GN Cannons. A massive, brilliant sphere of light floated directly in front of Raphael.
"Hyper Blast, full release!"
The sphere of light charged toward the T.N.T. Cannon with an unstoppable momentum, crashing into its heavy armor. The resulting radiance was so blindingly bright for a moment that people couldn't help but close their eyes.
Arthur Goodman had already closed his eyes to wait for death. However, when the light faded, aside from a slight stinging in his eyes, the expected death did not come. It was this very stinging that served as proof he was still alive.
"Hmph, insufficient firepower?" Arthur Goodman breathed a sigh of relief with lingering fear. A massive gap had been blown into the T.N.T. Cannon's side armor, but the most critical electromagnetic resonance section had not been destroyed.
"Brigadier General!"
"What!?"
Unexpectedly, the heavy stone that had just been lifted from his heart was slammed back down. Through the optical cameras, he saw that behind Raphael, Exia had mounted a high-power GN Beam Sniper Rifle on Raphael's shoulder.
"Stop them, quickly..."
"Lockon Stratos, sniping target..."
Under Arthur Goodman's despairing gaze, a brilliant pink beam split the universe in two, seemingly piercing through time and space, and then...
Swoosh...
It missed. The sniper beam did not enter through the hole blasted by Raphael to hit the T.N.T. Cannon's electromagnetic resonance section. Instead, it grazed past the damaged outer armor.
"It... it missed?" Having repeatedly experienced extreme highs and lows, Arthur Goodman looked at the scene before him in disbelief. It felt so surreal that he even began to question himself: Is this real? They actually missed? How could they miss?
"Brigadier General... Brigadier General!"
"Ah?" Arthur Goodman snapped back to his senses at his subordinate's loud call, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. "Where is the enemy ship?"
"Continuing to approach!"
"Have the remaining fleet scatter to the left and right, leaving the gap toward G45! Once they are a certain distance away from the T.N.T. Cannon, surround and annihilate them!" Arthur Goodman ordered. He deliberately opened a gap because he knew the Begal-class warships couldn't catch up to the Rainbow Ship. If the enemy ship insisted on breaking through, he would provide a gap to let them go.
And the defense line of that gap...
"Ms. Huang, the Exia's sniper shot missed. Operation success!"
"The enemy fleet is scattering to the sides. The breakthrough gap is at G45."
"Direction G45!" Hearing this, Sumeragi immediately constructed a model of the space map in her mind. She found that this direction was exactly where the reinforcements from the other three T.N.T. Cannons were coming from. "It seems we have the enemy commander to thank. Have Setsuna, Kira, and Athrun withdraw slowly. Lasse!"
"Understood!"
The Rainbow Ship continued to close in on the T.N.T. Cannon. At the very moment it was about to collide, the Rainbow Ship tilted upward, grazing past the T.N.T. Cannon. However, no one noticed that the moment the Rainbow Ship tilted up, several missile launchers on its underside fired missiles. They poured into the gap blasted by Raphael. No explosion occurred, because it was not yet time for detonation.
"They took the bait!" Arthur Goodman saw the Rainbow Ship enter the gap he had left—the pocket trap he had set—and was incredibly excited. This time, the combined reinforcements would surely destroy Celestial Being!
"How long until the reinforcement fleets reach the designated coordinates?"
"First Fleet in 12 minutes, Second Fleet in 16 minutes, and Third Fleet in 18 minutes."
"Very good. Order them to deploy immediately upon arrival. We must not let them escape—"
"Brigadier General! Emergency communications from T.N.T. Cannons 2, 3, and 4! They are all under surprise attack by unknown MS units, including several Gundams!"
"What!? How is that possible!? How could there be Gundams!?"
"All three sides have sent emergency requests for support and ordered the fleets supporting us to return immediately for rescue."
Bang! "Damn you, Celestial Being! So this was your real target all along!?" Arthur Goodman gritted his teeth, his face dark as water. All the seemingly illogical points were now connected. He realized he had been a fool and had helped the enemy. It wasn't that the enemy was incompetent and failed to destroy T.N.T. Cannon No. 1; they had deliberately spared them to create an opportunity for the other three directions!
"It's too late for the rescue fleets to get back. Three T.N.T. Cannons destroyed... but fortunately, there's still one T.N.T. Cannon left..."
Just as Arthur Goodman was feeling lucky that the T.N.T. Cannon he was responsible for had been saved—meaning it would still be a massive deterrent to the enemy and he wouldn't face severe punishment—as for the other commanders who lost their T.N.T. Cannons... what did that have to do with him?
Beep beep beep...
"Now what!?" Hearing the alarm sound again, Arthur Goodman became tense once more.
"High energy reaction detected inside the T.N.T. Cannon! This is..."
"Boom boom boom boom—!!"
The anti-ship missiles hidden inside the T.N.T. Cannon detonated, blowing it apart from the inside. Not only that, but the exploding fragments and the fire of the blast engulfed all the A-Laws ships near the T.N.T. Cannon, including the Begal-class warship Arthur Goodman was aboard.