Chapter 58: ZAFT Reinforcements

“Permission to launch!” Murrue waved her hand hurriedly, signaling to open the catapult hatch.

“Black Flame Dragon, Black Astray! Launch! Cool~~~ I’ve always wanted to say that!” Hao Ren, piloting the Black Astray, let out a wild yell as he shot out from the Archangel.

Sharp followed obediently with his Loli-Control.

“That machine is… Athrun!” Kira, coming face to face with the Aegis, was instantly shaken.

“Oh, looks like those two are about to fire a shot… wait, no, they’re about to start a war of words. In that case…” Hao Ren watched the pair of old friends, then his gaze, filled with mischief, turned to the two mobile suits preparing to attack the Archangel.

Diago and Nicol both shivered with unease.

“Why are you in the Earth Alliance? Why are you standing with the Naturals!” Imagine Ishida Akira’s deep, attacking voice—but whatever you do, don’t imagine Ryuunosuke from Fate/Zero.

“I’m not with the Earth Alliance. But all my friends… everyone I care about is on that ship!” Imagine Hoshi Souichirou’s gentle, vulnerable tone—but don’t, under any circumstance, imagine Sakurai Tomoki.

As the Strike and Aegis mobile suits tangled in battle, they accused and confessed to each other.

Picture the two of them chasing each other by the seaside:

“Hahaha, hahaha, come catch me!” The ever-smiling wise god ran ahead, naked as the day he was born.

“Hahaha, hahaha, wait for me!” Ryuunosuke, bloody and wielding a sharp knife, trailed behind, grinning from ear to ear.

My goodness! This is too much! Voice actor jokes really are terrifying!

“What are you dawdling for, Athrun!” Yzak, piloting the Duel Gundam, seemed unable to bear the bromantic scene any longer and unleashed a barrage from his beam rifle.

“Eh~~~!? Wasn’t there supposed to be only one white mobile suit? Where did the black one come from? Is this the Black and White Twin Furies?” Well, it seems Diago is familiar with some Chinese tropes.

But that’s not the point.

“It must be the other hidden power of ‘Long Legs,’” Nicol remained calm.

“Whoa, he looks tough.” The appearance of the Black Astray was indeed intimidating—its dark armor glinted with a bloody sheen, standing motionless atop the Archangel’s anti-beam deck, radiating an imposing aura.

In truth, the Black Astray wasn’t moving not because it was calm, but because Hao Ren didn’t know how to make it move.

How was he supposed to use motion controls to make the suit fire its thrusters? Did he have to release methane himself before the Black Astray could move?

Hao Ren was willing to give it a try, but…

Ah! The way Xiao An was looking at him hurt!

“Hmmm~~~” The Black Astray, under the bewildered gaze of its two opponents, sat down cross-legged, folded its arms, and shook its head, looking thoroughly troubled.

“What’s this guy doing?” Storm’s voice.

“No idea…” Blitz’s reply.

Diago lifted his 94mm high-energy beam rifle and tried a long-range shot at the black mobile suit, only to nearly have his eyes pop out in shock.

The Black Astray raised its arm and, with a single iaido slash, sliced the beam in two.

“I didn’t learn Saeko’s swordsmanship for nothing!” Hao Ren laughed triumphantly, hands on his hips.

“Black Flame, you bastard! You nearly scared me to death just now!” The beam had come so suddenly that Murrue hadn’t had time to order the Archangel to evade, and could only watch helplessly as it shot toward Hao Ren.

“Sorry, sorry.” Hao Ren’s expression and his words were completely at odds, making him look like he was asking for a beating.

“Master, let us use the flight ability for you.” After crunching down the last bit of lollipop, Mea hugged Hao Ren from behind.

“Huh? Instead? How does that work?” Hao Ren was baffled.

“Like this.” The three girls joined hands, and with Nemesis as the core, initiated a dual fusion. Black energy enveloped all four of them.

“Captain October just sent word; reinforcements are on their way. Let’s hold off those two mobile suits for now,” Nicol suggested. Though it was unclear who this Captain October was—there wasn’t such a character in the original.

“Okay~” Storm, a veteran of thirty years of long-range combat, was the strongest ranged unit among the five G-weapons, and intended to prove it with a barrage of firepower!

However, the Archangel took the initiative, entering suppression mode first.

“Evasive maneuvers with maximum acceleration,” Murrue commanded, her presence undeniable.

“Reflective beam depth charges, fire!” These were designed to dampen the power of beam weapons.

“Vulcan cannon system online, don’t let the enemy get close! Set anti-air defense missiles to auto-launch.”

Their gunnery and missiles were precise, able to hit Blitz and Storm directly, indicating the bridge crew was highly competent. Unfortunately, all their ammunition was kinetic. Against G-weapons with phase-shift armor, it did little damage.

What truly unnerved the two pilots were the occasional massive crimson beams sweeping by.

Sharp, piloting Loli-Control, was acting utterly shameless. He kept his entire suit hidden behind the main cannon of the Gottfried, taking potshots from cover and refusing to leave the Archangel’s protection, which made Nicol and Diago grind their teeth in frustration.

And from the start, that black mobile suit hadn’t moved an inch. No matter how wildly the Archangel maneuvered to evade, it clung to the deck as if glued in place.

“Heat source detected astern! It’s an unidentified battleship!” The CIC officer on the Archangel’s bridge looked terrified. “Unidentified battleship launching mobile suits! Five heat signatures… units unidentifiable!”

“What!” Murrue sprang to her feet.

“Captain October is here with his squad!” Nicol blasted away a tracking missile and exclaimed in delight.

Five glowing figures approached from the distance. Leading them was the red “Raideen Custom High-Mobility Zaku II” seen earlier in the Loli-Control’s footage, followed by four more Zaku IIs.

What the—does this mean ZAFT is now allied with the Principality of Zeon? That makes no sense!

“Useless fools! Haven’t taken down ‘Long Legs’ yet? You’re making me come out here myself. Just wait for your punishment when we get back, Nicol, Diago!” Captain October’s voice boomed from the red Zaku, his frame imposing. Yet, as if he’d heard the narrator’s complaints, he had swapped out his mask for a catwoman mask…

A burly middle-aged man in a catwoman mask—no other word but “creepy” comes to mind.

Hearing the word “punishment,” Nicol clenched up and instinctively covered his rear. Diago shrank back and covered his lower abdomen.

Both their reactions caused their suits to take several hits.

On the same channel, Yzak wiped nonexistent sweat from his brow and continued clinging to the Strike like a jealous lover. Meanwhile, Athrun breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his heartfelt persuasion of Kira.

Yzak’s mother was a Supreme Council member, while Athrun’s father was the current council chairman. Both felt relieved that their family backgrounds could still intimidate Captain October.

Nicol’s father was also a council member, but lacked backbone in certain respects.

As for Diago… best to just ignore him.

But what exactly is this punishment? I’m so curious.