The sight of two large MAs of differing forms locked in a melee confrontation drew the attention of many. Even the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice, equipped with their METEOR units and fresh from unleashing their firepower on the nuclear missile force, were momentarily overlooked.
At that moment, aboard a massive machine within the Earth Alliance fleet—which had been heavily damaged by GENESIS.
"That's..."
Watching the screen display the stalemate between the Dendrobium and the ZAFT unit, Clotho Buer finished the last drop of alcohol in his flask and put on his helmet.
The moment he flipped down the helmet's visor, the decadent Clotho vanished, and his entire temperament underwent a massive transformation.
His hands, which had been trembling slightly due to heavy drinking to numb himself, gripped the three dog tags hanging from his chest. One was his own; the others belonged to the deceased Orga Sabnack and Shani Andras.
In death, they didn't even have a grave. These two dog tags were "spares" that Clotho had specifically sought out when the cleanup department was clearing their personal effects.
"...Just wait. I'll be joining you soon."
Clotho seemed to have made up his mind, and his hands gripped the control sticks.
"But before that, I'm going to take down that White Devil!"
With the grinding of machinery, the unit—shaped like a giant wolf—was transported onto the catapult rail.
Clotho could feel it: this was his destination. This machine existed for this very moment!
"Destroy Mk-II, Clotho, launching!"
As he stepped on the pedals, the thrusters of the Destroy Mk-II ignited instantly, propelling the machine off the catapult rail toward the Dendrobium and the ZAFT unit.
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Gryps, in a dimly lit command room.
A man dressed in opulent clothing swirled a wine glass in his hand, letting the red liquid ripple within the glass under the influence of artificial gravity.
"I didn't expect... that the Coordinators would actually possess such armaments?"
The man narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene before him, revealing a peculiar smile.
Without a doubt, as the leader of "LOGOS," the primary backers of Blue Cosmos, he was very satisfied with the current situation.
Although the conflict had deviated tens of thousands of miles from the original plan of "small-scale friction," the war had, at the very least, brought a massive influx of orders to the gargantuan military-industrial complex that was LOGOS. This allowed them to ignore the increasingly fierce flames of war.
After all, the more intense the war, the more orders there were for LOGOS. For the sake of 100% or even 200% profit, they completely disregarded the consequences brought about by the conflict.
"Since the opposition is flexing their muscles like this, we cannot show weakness either!"
Immediately after, the man holding the red wine waved his hand. "Prepare Gryps. Aim at that weapon that just launched the attack!"
"Understood!"
Accompanied by the loud response of an officer bribed by LOGOS, the Gryps colony, which had been on standby, began to bustle with activity.
The bottom armor of Gryps retracted, revealing a massive cannon muzzle.
"Courtesy demands reciprocity, does it not?"
Watching the light gradually brighten within the muzzle, the man holding the wine issued the order.
"Destroy that giant weapon of theirs, and sweep the Coordinators into the dustbin of history!"
At the man's command, a colossal beam of light erupted from the Gryps muzzle. It soared past the remaining 60% of the fleet—which had dispersed in advance—and flew toward GENESIS.
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With the massive arms of the ZAFT unit exerting force, the previously stable standoff was broken.
The Dendrobium's thrusters ramped up to full power, and the machine grazed past the ZAFT unit, pulling out of its melee reach while simultaneously dropping a small container.
Propelled by their own thrusters, the small missiles mounted on the container streaked toward the ZAFT unit.
However, the ZAFT unit made no move to evade, allowing the missiles to impact its body, erupting in a series of sparks and smoke.
Watching the ZAFT unit become shrouded in smoke, Roz Links unhesitatingly maneuvered the Dendrobium into a rapid turn, raising the giant twin cannon barrels toward the enemy's position.
Thick yellow beams erupted from the barrels, piercing through the dense smoke. But almost instantly, over a dozen beams shot back out from the haze, flying toward the Dendrobium.
Roz activated the "Shield of Artemis" mounted on the front of the Dendrobium. The beam shield, smooth and crystalline, effortlessly deflected the ZAFT unit's counterattack.
The ZAFT unit charged out of the smoke with arms raised, its ten fingers firing beams continuously. A slightly irregular beam shield now covered the Providence.
Roz could see that the ZAFT unit now bore several scorch marks where the beams had melted its surface.
"A brilliant counter... as expected of you."
Sitting in the cockpit of the Providence, Rau Le Creuset forced himself to remain calm once more.
To be honest, that rapid-fire sequence of attacks—using missiles to create a smoke screen to obscure vision, followed by a beam bombardment from the upper right—was a lot to handle, even for Creuset while piloting the high-performance ZAFT unit.
Yet, this was within Creuset's expectations. After all, from his previous battles with Roz, he knew to expect an offensive that was calm yet laced with a hint of madness.
"But we aren't the only two on this battlefield!"
As if discovering something, Creuset revealed a brilliant smile.
Roz felt a surge of killing intent directed at him and instinctively stepped on the pedal, moving the Dendrobium away from its current position.
Two thick beams appeared where the Dendrobium had just been. Following the trajectory of the beams, Roz spotted a giant machine.
It looked like a scaled-up version of the Gaia Gundam, flying toward them in its transformed mobile armor mode.
"Found you... White Devil!"
Sitting inside the machine known as the Destroy Mk-II, Clotho Buer stared fixedly at the white Dendrobium—or rather, the Unicorn fixed within it—at the sight of the two giant MAs.
"Go to hell with me!"
He shouted, pulling the trigger. The "Aufprall Dreizehn" High-energy Beam Cannons on the unit fired red and white beams toward both the Dendrobium and the ZAFT unit.
The Dendrobium and the ZAFT unit skillfully evaded the attacks. After all, their beam shields could only protect a small portion of their massive frames; if any other part were hit by those cannons, they would suffer severe damage.
Seeing that he was nearing the Dendrobium, the Destroy Mk-II rapidly transformed from a four-legged MA into a giant MS. Beam sabers extended from its palms as it swung toward the Dendrobium.
Roz unhesitatingly increased the output of his beam saber, clashing against the Destroy Mk-II's blade. The jet of beam particles generated by the clash, combined with the Dendrobium's sheer power, nearly blew back the Destroy Mk-II's attacking arm.
Under the control of the Large Haro fixed to the Unicorn's console, the two machine guns mounted on the weapon container swiveled to fire continuously at the nearby ZAFT unit, while also releasing two more small containers.
The small containers deployed their armor plates, and missiles with built-in beam-scatter warheads flew toward the ZAFT unit as it prepared to attack. They exploded into a dense rain of beams, forcing Creuset to maneuver the ZAFT unit away to avoid the brunt of the assault.
The battle between the three giant machines was less a chaotic free-for-all and more a case of Roz taking on two opponents at once, piloting the Dendrobium to trade blows with the ZAFT unit and the Destroy Mk-II in turns, battering them both.
With the nuclear reactor pushing out more energy, the Dendrobium's mechanical arms increased their output, shoving aside the Destroy Mk-II's beam saber and breaking free from the pincer attack.
Just as Roz completed his turn, preparing to dive back into the fray and engage both machines again—
A blinding white light flashed. A massive white beam swallowed a large number of ZAFT's white MS and struck "GENESIS."
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