While Roz Links observed the asteroid that had revealed its internal metallic contents following the satellite cannon strike:
The "Main Cannon" of the Alvatore—which had just been destroyed by Shinn Asuka and was continuously exploding—suddenly swiveled its barrel.
Two red beam shots streaked toward the powerless Over Flag and the Destiny, which was still maintaining its Wings of Light.
"It can still function?!"
Shinn Asuka was startled by the sudden bombardment. He maneuvered the Destiny into a left-side barrel roll, successfully evading the shot.
However, just as Graham Aker, sitting inside the Over Flag, watched the incoming beam and instinctively closed his eyes:
A massive silhouette, carrying a green GN Field, interposed itself in front of him. It was the Exia equipped with the GN Arms.
Even though the Exia had activated its GN Field, the red beam fired from the Alvatore's wreckage had been tuned to analyze the particle compression rate of GN Fields.
After resisting for a brief moment, the GN Field was directly pierced and dispersed.
Seeing this, Setsuna F Seiei instinctively raised the left arm of the GN Arms to block the strike.
Not long after the red beam hit the left arm of the GN Arms, the massive limb exploded. Various parts flew in all directions, and the impact of the explosion propelled the GN Arms backward, slamming it directly into the Over Flag.
"Ugh..."
Gritting his teeth against the violent shock of the explosion, Setsuna F Seiei stared fixedly at the source of the fire. "Lasse, status of the GN Arms?"
"...Left arm is offline."
Lasse, the Ptolemaios gunner currently seated in the GN Arms cockpit, glanced at the Over Flag drifting backward behind them. "Careful, the enemy is targeting the Over Flag. It has no power."
Though they didn't know why the "pseudo-reactor" from the intelligence reports had suddenly spewed green particles identical to a GN Drive, since the Over Flag and the Destiny had worked together to destroy the Alvatore, they were naturally allies—at least for now.
"I know..."
Frowning, Setsuna F Seiei attempted to link with the Over Flag's communication system. Eventually, the image of a figure in a UNION pilot suit, slumped in his seat, appeared on the screen. "Can you hear me, Over Flag pilot!"
"...It's you, boy."
Seeing Setsuna F Seiei's face on the channel and recognizing his voice, Graham Aker laughed, his suspicions confirmed. "I knew I wasn't wrong... but I can't even move right now. Otherwise, I'd certainly have gone a few rounds with you."
"Besides, keep your eyes on that golden MA."
Following Graham Aker's warning, Setsuna F Seiei turned his attention back to the continuously exploding wreckage of the Alvatore that had just fired the shot.
The "armor" of the main cannon suddenly flipped upward, revealing a golden MS lying within a reserved recess. Its face featured a blue "visor" that was completely different from other machines.
If the visors on the ReZEL and Jesta used by Roz Links's side projected a "fierce" aura, the visor on this golden MS somehow gave off an impression of being "honest."
As the golden MS stood atop the wreckage of the Alvatore, the wings that had served as the "Main Cannon Armor" lowered behind it, and the voice of Alejandro Corner rang out over the Celestial Being communication channel.
"I never imagined that with the performance of the Alvatore, I would be forced into such a bitter struggle..."
Alejandro Corner gripped the control sticks. Looking at the various data points on his screen being auxiliary-calculated by VEDA, a reckless smile appeared on his face. "But regardless of what capabilities your machines possess, I have seized VEDA. All your intelligence has already been analyzed by my Alvathore. You have no chance of victory."
At that moment, a dark red beam shot out from behind the Alvatore, heading toward the Penelope, which had seemed to be dazing off to the side.
"Hm?"
A sudden sensation like an electric current surged through his brain. Roz Links, who was on high alert, instinctively maneuvered the Penelope to perform a turn that seemed to defy inertia, dodging the shot.
However, because of this, he redirected his attention to the initiator of the attack and the nearby wreckage of the Alvatore.
"...A golden GM?"
Upon seeing the "Alvathore" Alejandro Corner had mentioned, Roz Links subconsciously thought of the GM, but looking closer, it seemed even the GM's visor looked a bit better than this "Alvathore."
For a machine belonging to a "Mastermind," it gave off a somewhat dim-witted impression; it was almost as if the designer of this unit had had their wages docked.
After finishing his internal critique of the Alvathore—a machine that truly invited mockery—Roz Links looked at the initiator of the previous attack.
He saw the Gundam Throne Eins slightly raising the barrel on its right shoulder, which was still sparking with electricity. It casually flicked the large sword in its left hand and flew to the side of the Alvathore.
"The Throne..."
Seeing the machine before him, Setsuna F Seiei frowned.
"You've arrived at the perfect time, Throne."
After glancing at the "Sponsee" that had flown to his side, Alejandro Corner took a quick look at the current state of the battle.
The Over Flag had lost power, and the Exia's GN Arms had lost its left arm. Adding to that were the Destiny and Penelope, which remained completely unscathed...
It seemed like the combat situation was quite unfavorable. However, considering that the GN particle compression rate of the Exia had already been cracked and given the strength of the Alvathore's GN Field, it could be said that the destruction of the Exia was only a matter of time. From there, he would only need to face the Destiny and the Penelope.
As for the Destiny, the Wings of Light afterimages were impressive, but they served no purpose other than visual interference. He only needed to deploy his GN Field to achieve total defense.
The advantage is mine!
With that thought, Alejandro Corner spoke to Johann Trinity in the Throne.
"Throne, you go deal with the Ravens."
After a brief silence in the cockpit of the Gundam Throne Eins, Johann Trinity maneuvered his machine and flew toward the nearby Penelope.
Although he knew that Alejandro Corner was someone who had never truly been on a battlefield or fought against the Ravens, and that by following such an arrangement he would surely die at the hands of a Hunter, none of it mattered anymore.
"Ravens... it's all because of that Unicorn you brought along..."
Staring at the massive machine before him and recalling the screams of his younger brother and sister when they were destroyed by the Unicorn, Johann Trinity shouted, "Give me back the lives of my brother and sister!"
The Gundam Throne Eins raised the beam rifle in its right hand, firing incessantly at the Penelope. The barrel on its right shoulder also began to charge, red GN particles flowing through it as it unleashed a dark red beam bombardment.
Unfortunately, Roz Links had habitually closed the external communication channels and could not hear Johann's verbal onslaught directed at him over the public frequency.
Watching the Gundam Throne Eins's assault on the Penelope, Roz Links gripped the control sticks. He maneuvered the Penelope into a roll, evading the beam fire and barrage, and closed the distance toward the Throne.
When the Penelope reached a certain range, Johann operated the Gundam Throne Eins to raise the large sword in its left hand, swinging it toward the Penelope.
In the next second, the Penelope turned. Its stabilizer tail fin, acting like a tail blade, struck with immense force, knocking the large sword in the Throne's hand aside.
The large beam sabers on both shoulders were raised. After a brief charge, as the Penelope faced the Throne head-on again, two pink beams erupted from the large beam sabers, accurately striking the Gundam Throne Eins's head sensor and the shoulder cannon.
Before Johann could even react, a shield bash from the Penelope's left arm delivered a massive impact, causing him to momentarily lose the ability to operate the machine.
The Penelope slightly retracted the left arm that had delivered the shield bash. From a gap in the shield, a white beam saber suddenly extended like a hidden blade.
Roz Links precisely thrust it into the spherical component on the chest of the Gundam Throne Eins; the beam saber even pierced through the frame, emerging from the machine's pseudo-reactor.
Under the watchful eyes of the others, the Penelope did not hesitate for a moment. Its left arm swept up and down, bisecting the Gundam Throne Eins from head to toe.
"Agh...!"
As the cockpit ruptured, Johann let out an instinctive scream from the intense heat of the beam saber before being vaporized the moment he made contact with the blade, vanishing from this world.
The two halves of the Gundam Throne Eins drifted apart, and the built-in self-destruct system automatically triggered, turning the wreckage into a cloud of fragments scattered across space.
-----------------------------------
"He died that quickly?!"
Inside the cockpit of the Alvathore, Alejandro Corner frowned as he watched the Gundam Throne Eins get taken out by the Penelope's fluid combo.
Although he had been aware of the Penelope's strength through various reports, it wasn't until he saw Johann Trinity—who could be said to have met the passing grade for an ace pilot—die at the hands of Roz Links that he truly understood the gap.
"Where are you looking?"
Casually destroying a nearby GN-X acting as an Alvatore escort, Shinn Asuka maneuvered the Destiny into a roll. Holding the massive sword before him, the Wings of Light propelled the Destiny forward, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake as it lunged toward the Alvathore.
Seeing the Destiny close the distance in an instant, its massive ship-slashing sword nearly upon him, Alejandro Corner tilted the wings on the Alvathore's back slightly forward. Compressed GN particles formed an orange-yellow GN Field.
The beam-cutting edge of the ship-slashing sword was dispersed by the GN Field's particles, and the physical blade slammed into the shield. The very tip of the blade could be seen biting slightly into the GN Field.
"It's useless!"
Looking at the sword hacking at his GN Field, Alejandro Corner laughed maniacally. "You can't even break through my GN Field, let alone stop my plan!"
"This world will teeter on the brink of destruction due to the invasion of Celestial Being, only to be reborn and step into a rhythm called unification!"
Thinking of the VEDA he had seized, Alejandro Corner's smile became increasingly unhinged. "Whether it's VEDA's plan or this world itself, I will dye it in my colors!"
"Creating people like the Trinity siblings and letting them attack civilians, using satellite cannons to bombard ordinary cities... is this what you mean by 'dyeing it in your colors'?"
Hearing his words, Shinn Asuka felt a surge of rage rising within him. "You bastard, what do you think human lives are?!"
"They are necessary sacrifices!"
Alejandro Corner dismissed Shinn Asuka's words entirely. "They should feel honored to be the bricks and currency used to forge my hegemony!"
"You! You're not even human anymore!"
Fury filled Shinn Asuka's heart. The Destiny exerted sudden force, knocking both the GN Field and the Alvathore backward.
It was as if a seed had burst within Shinn Asuka's mind; his brainwaves became frantically active. His expression shifted from one of initial rage to an eerie, focused calm.
"I will never let an ambitious madman who throws the Earth into chaos like you stay alive!"
Gritting his teeth, Shinn Asuka maneuvered the Destiny to charge at the Alvathore once more.
Observing the battle from the Exia, which was currently protecting the Over Flag, Setsuna F Seiei remained silent for a moment.
"Lasse, take the Over Flag back first."
Setsuna F Seiei operated the Exia to decouple from the GN Arms. "I'm going to join the fight."
"...Understood. Please be careful."
Lasse responded over the comms. Subsequently, the GN Arms turned around and, supporting the powerless Over Flag which was relying on emergency power to maintain cockpit functions, began to withdraw toward the Ptolemaios.
After decoupling from the GN Arms, Setsuna raised his GN Sword's rifle mode and fired continuously at the Alvathore, which had deployed its GN Field.
Watching the Exia join the fray, Alejandro Corner frowned slightly and maneuvered his machine to gain distance from the Destiny.
Finally, after another heavy swing from the Destiny sent the Alvathore flying, Alejandro used the gap before Shinn Asuka could lunge again to fire several bursts from the beam rifles that functioned as the MA's main cannons. Shinn was forced to momentarily veer off to avoid the direct fire.
The Alvathore's wings shifted direction, bringing their tips forward. A force field of GN particles manifested between the wings.
As the twin beam rifles in the Alvathore's hands charged briefly, a massive orange-yellow beam erupted from between the wings, surging toward the Exia.
VEDA required more time to analyze the Destiny's patterns, so Alejandro decided to follow VEDA's recommendation to first eliminate the Exia, whose particle compression rate had already been cracked. After all, a one-on-one fight was far easier than a one-on-two.
However, just as the beam bombardment was about to reach the Exia, a beam boomerang flew in from the Alvathore's lower left, slicing through the left wing completely. The expensive golden anti-beam coating failed to offer any protection.
With the particle force field broken, violent energy began to scatter and erupt in front of the Alvathore.
In the explosion of fire and GN particles, the remaining wing and both beam rifles were shattered. The massive impact sent the Alvathore tumbling backward.
Alejandro glanced toward the source of the boomerang; the Destiny was flying toward him with its beam ship-slashing sword held high over its head. Meanwhile, at the impact zone of the previous beam bombardment, the Exia was nowhere to be seen, as if it had been vaporized by the blast.
"Phew... at least the Exia is finis—"
Alejandro breathed a small sigh of relief. He discarded the wreckage of the Alvathore's beam rifles and drew two orange-bladed beam sabers from the rear skirt armor, preparing for close-quarters combat with the Destiny.
But in the next second, several beams fell from above, striking the Alvathore with pinpoint accuracy.
A red silhouette, trailing green light particles, descended from directly above the Alvathore, leaving a wake of semi-transparent afterimages.
"The Exia? It's not dead?!"
Alejandro's eyes widened. "To survive that bombardment... how is that possible?!"
The next moment, carrying immense force, the blade of the Exia's GN Sword slammed into the Alvathore's left shoulder, severing the arm entirely.
While the loss of an arm was severe, Alejandro discovered a much more terrifying problem that made him break into a cold sweat.
"The auto-evasion didn't trigger... what's happening? Is there a problem with VEDA?"
Alejandro maneuvered the Alvathore to retreat from the two machines. Without VEDA's auxiliary support, the controls felt sluggish and unresponsive. "Ribbons! What exactly happened? Why is VEDA failing?!"
"My apologies, Mr. Alejandro Corner..."
Ribbons Almark's voice over the comms was calm, almost playful. "I see no record of a link between VEDA and yourself, nor any of your data or permissions."
"What?!"
Alejandro froze in shock at the news.
In that briefest of moments, Shinn Asuka drove the Destiny right in front of him. A single slash tore through the waist of the "Golden GM," bisecting the machine.
Then, the ship-slashing sword reversed its angle, coming down in a vertical cleave through the remains of the Alvathore.
"Ribbons, you bastard! Aaaargh...!"
Alejandro Corner screamed his final curse before being vaporized by the beam-cutting edge of the blade.
-----------------------------------
With the explosion of the Alvathore, Roz Links did not relax. On the contrary, ever since Shinn Asuka entered his "SEED" state, an instinctive sense of unease had begun to grow.
A strange buzzing sound echoed within the minds of Roz Links and Shinn Asuka, causing them both to look toward the source of the noise in their mental perception.
"Big brother Roz, there's a really weird sound... my head feels like it's swelling!"
Feeling the discomfort in his brain, Shinn Asuka's eyes widened.
"Shinn, stay sharp. That thing..."
Roz Links frowned slightly. Although he felt a slight throbbing in his head, it was nothing compared to the psychic backlash he had endured from the remnants of Junius 7.
But before Roz Links could finish, the metal inside the asteroid suddenly "came alive." It began to erode its rocky shell, eventually transforming into a solid, silvery-white metallic mass.
Immediately after, it began to bud and split into small, streamlined metallic "machines" about one meter in length. These metallic entities began to race through space.
As they continued to multiply, the silvery-white asteroid they originated from gradually shrank until it vanished entirely.
"That's..."
Seeing this, Sumeragi Lee Noriega on the Ptolemaios forgot all about her combat commands. She stood up from the captain's chair, staring fixedly at the metallic flood flying toward the Penelope and the Destiny.
"VEDA has given us a response..." Christina Sierra swallowed hard as she looked at the data on her console.
"They are the same as the extraterrestrial metallic lifeforms discovered on Jupiter. Their current codename is ELS. Based on this scale, this must be some kind of probe. It felt something and woke up from its hibernation!"
"These ELS... what exactly did they feel?!"
This specific ELS probe had been in a dormant stage, but after the asteroid was shattered by the satellite cannon, it sensed Shinn Asuka's high-intensity brainwaves.
Driven by the instinct to communicate and understand this civilization, the "probe" awakened.
Unfortunately, since emerging from a wormhole and experiencing too many incidents, they were "disconnected" from their collective.
However, that wasn't a major issue; they could still split off a team in their smallest form. Furthermore, a one-meter-long ELS had already detached from the probe swarm and was flying toward the Jupiter wormhole.
The "Messenger" needed to establish contact with the ELS home world.
The home world would then have to construct an expeditionary force despite the resource scarcity caused by their white dwarf star and open a wormhole large enough for transit...
By all accounts, by the time the expeditionary force reached this star system to make contact, this civilization's home planet might have completed two to three, or perhaps three to four, revolutions around its star.
'But how strange... is fighting really how this civilization communicates? Why can't they learn from us ELS and just share a friendly embrace?'
"Ugh... why are they chasing me?!"
Seeing the small but numerous ELS, Shinn Asuka froze for a moment.
In the next second, several ELS slammed into the Destiny's ship-slashing sword. Silvery-white metal began to grow over the blade's surface. Terrified, Shinn Asuka immediately discarded the sword.
"...It's likely due to your brainwaves. They're too active, Shinn!"
Roz Links was well aware of the surge in brainwave activity when Shinn Asuka entered his "SEED" state, let alone now that he had reached the stage of a burgeoning Newtype.
This small ELS swarm clearly had no interest in other beings whose brainwave intensity wasn't as high; currently, they were single-mindedly chasing Roz Links and Shinn Asuka, the two with the most active brainwaves.
In that case, if he simply made his own brainwave intensity stronger than everyone else's, he could draw all these ELS toward him...
"AllMind, I'm activating the NT-D."
Roz Links took a deep breath and spoke.
"I support all your decisions unconditionally, Roz Links."
Floating beside him, the Machine Spirit lady, who had been watching for a long time, smiled and responded to him. "However, you're going to have a lot of fanatical fans behind you."
"Then they'll have to keep up with me first."
A dazzling red light emerged from the "lines" of the Penelope. In its high-speed state, the machine transformed into a streak of flowing light.
His surging brainwaves were like a burning sun, instantly stealing the spotlight from Shinn Asuka and causing the ELS to shift their target.
"Very well... alien lifeforms, come and run a few laps with me."
..................