Kent's shouts reverberated through the violently shaking bridge.
Suddenly, the bridge fell silent.
The adjutant couldn't help but mutter: "Those Blue Cosmos bastards..."
Kent slammed his fist on the armrest: "Increase distance! Target all missiles and AA guns on the Mistral! Don't let it reach the bridge!"
The black warship rotated in place, unleashing a dense barrage of missiles and cannon fire.
The shuttle banked sideways, its limited guns intercepting numerous missiles.
Yet the defensive fire proved too sparse - most missiles breached the line. The small Mistral proved difficult to hit, leaving the shuttle to absorb the brunt of the attack.
The shuttle's reinforced armor exploded and peeled away in chunks, its last remaining gun destroyed.
Zhou Tianming maneuvered the Mistral through the deadly storm. Though his Mental Command effects had faded, his body remembered the movements.
The two mechanical arms moved with supernatural precision, wielding shredded shuttle armor plates as makeshift shields against the automatic cannon fire.
Violent tremors rocked the cockpit. Ogsha clung desperately to Zhou Tianming's waist, eyes squeezed shut, her feet obediently working the pedals as he commanded.
"Maximum thruster output! Floor the accelerator!!"
Ogsha slammed the throttle forward, her foot pressing the pedal to the metal.
The Mistral's thrusters flared brilliantly as it arrowed toward the black warship's bridge.
[Acceleration 10] activated.
The Mistral showed no response.
Zhou Tianming froze momentarily as his body suddenly accelerated.
The unexpected development caused an operational error, making the mobile suit hesitate briefly.
Just then, a missile streaked toward them. Regaining focus, Zhou Tianming hurled an armor plate with the mechanical arm.
His mistimed throw due to the sudden speed increase made the plate merely graze the missile without detonating it.
In the split second before impact, Zhou Tianming's mind raced, processing torrents of data while using the acceleration effect for frantic micro-adjustments.
The Mistral rotated, its arm gently tapping the missile's side with the armor plate to redirect it.
The tremendous impact force transmitted through the plate sent the Mistral careening away as Zhou Tianming harnessed the momentum.
The missile detonated, peppering the machine's back with shrapnel that embedded deeply into its frame.
The cockpit echoed with the deafening clatter of impacts.
Even bold Zhou Tianming turned pale with terror, sweat pouring down his face, while Ogsha screamed in fright.
Yet fortune favors the bold - the redirected force propelled the Mistral toward the black warship's bridge at double speed.
On the bridge, Kent's face was pale as he roared incessantly: "Fire! Fire! Aim the main cannon at Siegel Clyne's shuttle!"
"Captain, the charging isn't complete yet—the safety lock—"
A deathly glare swept over, and the operator immediately lowered his head and began working.
The black battleship retreated at maximum speed, trying to create distance, but the Mistral was faster.
The battleship's main cannon rotated, aligning before crackling with electricity.
Zhou Tianming initially thought they were preparing to attack him and readied to dodge, but upon seeing the cannon's direction, he immediately realized their target was the shuttle.
His heart skipped a beat. He didn't know if the shuttle could withstand the hit, but he couldn't move any faster, nor did he have any weapons to attack the enemy's main cannon.
Just then, he noticed a detail—many shattered automatic cannon shells floated around the enemy's main cannon barrel, the fragments being pulled along as the cannon turned.
This anomaly indicated a problem with the main cannon—the electromagnetic cannon's magnetic field was leaking outward.
An idea struck him. Zhou Tianming detached one of his Mobile Armor's mechanical arms and hurled it toward the cannon with the other.
The arm flew swiftly toward the muzzle.
At the moment the main cannon fired, the arm was sucked inside. It collided wildly within the barrel, twisting as the laser cutter generator at its tip was activated by the intense electromagnetic field, emitting a laser beam several times more powerful than usual. The beam instantly sliced through the inner wall of the cannon.
The next second, the main cannon fired, and the barrel was instantly torn apart by the tremendous kinetic force. A flash of light erupted from the muzzle, streaking across space.
In the end, it missed the shuttle by several hundred meters.
Kent and his crew stared in stunned silence.
"Monster..."
The next moment, Zhou Tianming's Mistral crashed headlong into the black battleship's bridge. The remaining mechanical arm triggered the laser cutter, sweeping across the room.
In an instant, most of the bridge crew were dead.
The Mistral pulled back, and a violent gust of wind howled through. Those hiding in corners were instantly sucked into the void of space, flash-frozen into ice sculptures.
The battleship, now without command, completely shut down.
"Whew—" Zhou Tianming exhaled deeply.
Relaxing, he slumped weakly into Ogsha's arms, too exhausted to speak as his eyelids grew heavy. Within moments, he fell unconscious.
Ogsha, who had been squeezing her eyes shut in fear, cautiously opened them when the shaking and noise ceased.
Seeing Zhou Tianming motionless in her arms, she panicked—but his steady breathing and pale yet calm expression reassured her slightly.
Glancing at the screen, she realized they had just destroyed the enemy battleship's bridge. Her heart pounded wildly.
She quickly turned the Mistral around and flew back.
Inside the shuttle, Siegel, who had just been stuffed into an escape pod, was yanked back out moments later.
His face was expressionless, as was the subordinate who pulled him out.
After being briefed in detail about what had happened in his absence, Siegel was dumbfounded: "My wife? Ogsha?"
"1v3, wiped out all enemy Mobile Armors?"
"Correct."
"Piloted the Mistral we left behind and destroyed the enemy bridge?"
"Correct."
"..."
Siegel looked utterly bewildered, but he quickly snapped out of it and stopped dwelling on the matter. He ordered, "Have the repair team fix the thrusters ASAP. Once propulsion is restored, we leave immediately. Tell them not to worry about long-term functionality—just make it work now."
"Continue monitoring the surroundings. Stay alert and maintain combat readiness at Level 1."
"Understood."
Five minutes later, the Mistral piloted by Ogsha slowly entered the hangar from behind the shuttle.
She had just poked her head out of the cockpit when Siegel flew over.
After giving her a peculiar once-over, Siegel finally spoke: "I never expected you to have such impressive piloting skills."
Ogsha rolled her eyes at him. "Come help."
With that, she ducked back inside, and Siegel approached.
Ogsha lifted the unconscious Zhou Tianming from the cockpit and handed him to Siegel.
Startled, Siegel quickly took hold of the boy and shouted to the side, "Get the medical team over here! There's an injured child!"
"He's fine, just exhausted and asleep."
"Who is this kid?"
"He was the one piloting the Mistral earlier."
"Oh." Siegel nodded, then suddenly froze. "What?!"
Glancing down at Zhou Tianming in his arms, his eyes caught sight of the bandages peeking out from beneath the boy's black casual jacket collar. Alarmed, he unzipped the jacket—only to find the bandages soaked through with sweat and blood, stained crimson.
Ogsha's face also paled with worry.
Just then, the medical team arrived. The moment they saw Zhou Tianming's condition, their expressions darkened, and they immediately rushed him to the infirmary.
Siegel's expression turned grave, his brows furrowing as he spoke in a heavy tone, "You're saying this child was the pilot? Those maneuvers were performed by him?"
Ogsha nodded.
Siegel trembled with anger. "First Lacus, and now another child?!"
Ogsha averted her gaze. "He's not one of them."
Siegel exhaled in relief.
"He's from a different project."
A vein bulged on Siegel's forehead as he raised his hand.
Ogsha narrowed her eyes, tilting her face slightly.
"You—you—you!"
Furious, Siegel still couldn't bring himself to strike.
"Come with me! Just how many things have you been keeping from me?!"
Grabbing Ogsha's arm, he dragged her away.