Chapter 33: Battle of the Orb Coast (Part II)

Over the Pacific, near the Orb territorial waters.

After defeating the Morassia Team in the Malacca Strait and entering the Pacific, the Archangel encountered pursuit by the ZAFT military once again near Orb's territorial waters.

When the alarm sounded, Li Boyong, who was already in the hangar, immediately changed into his pilot suit and sortied in the Sword Strike Rouge.

【Mission】

Survive the upcoming battle. (Completion reward: 3 Plot Points)

Li Boyong received the system prompt just as he ascended. It looked simple enough; he just had to hang on and survive.

However, the thought of facing four Gundams made his heart sink.

After Li Boyong sortied, Mula Flaga also launched in the Launcher Strike Rouge, while the Strike equipped the Aile Striker and jumped onto the deck.

"The enemy is the Kruse Team, consisting of four G-series units and one specially equipped CGUE. All units are to rely on the Archangel's firepower for defense, exhaust the enemy's energy, and then break away from the pursuit."

Captain Murrue Ramius briefed the pilots on the enemy intelligence and issued the combat orders.

A wise choice; those four Gundams were the fundamental reason for the Eighth Fleet's annihilation, and they were not something the current Archangel could handle.

A specially equipped CGUE?

It couldn't be that much of a coincidence...

Li Boyong's heart skipped a beat. This hadn't happened in the original story!

Why did Shihe join the team pursuing the Archangel...

Soon, the five MS units carrying Guuls approached the Archangel, which was attempting to break away.

"Blitz, flank from the left. Buster, prioritize targeting the Long Legs' engines. Duel and I will pursue from the rear. CGUE, handle the fighters. Understood?"

Inside the Aegis, Athrun Zala issued the combat orders simultaneously. "We must shoot down the Long Legs today; if we drag this out, it might really escape."

"Nagging, I know that."

Yzak Joule retorted loudly over the channel.

Athrun could only offer a bitter smile in response. He knew Yzak had been harboring resentment about him being appointed the temporary team leader, which was why he constantly defied his orders...

"OK, not a bad battle plan."

Dearka chuckled, expressing his agreement with the plan, which helped ease the tension slightly.

However, he couldn't help but ask with a sharp tongue: "But is the newcomer okay? Didn't that little girl get shot down by a fighter before?"

"I will definitely take them down this time."

Shihe frowned and replied.

"Then I'll be looking forward to it."

Dearka laughed, his tone filled with a hint of disdain.

"You!" Shihe was choked with anger. She particularly loathed this young master of the Elsman family; he had no respect for women at all.

Moreover, the atmosphere in the team was terrible; there was no unity whatsoever.

"Alright, Miss Hafunis, don't mind him. Dearka doesn't mean any harm." Nicol, the pilot of the Blitz, habitually stepped in to mediate.

Nicol was a genuinely good person and usually very gentlemanly, though sometimes a bit too soft-spoken.

"The Long Legs is now in visual range. All units, engage."

Athrun issued the formal order to begin the battle.

"Understood."

Shihe acknowledged, seeing the two fighters beside the Archangel.

That guy was probably jumping up and down in frustration right now, cursing, "I shouldn't have saved her!"

Thinking of Li Boyong's likely reaction, Shihe felt a sudden urge to laugh.

It was just a pity that since they had met again on the battlefield, she would have no choice but to shoot him down.

"I shouldn't have saved her!"

Seeing that the Beam Experimental CGUE was indeed among the pursuing team, Li Boyong couldn't help but shout in exasperation.

"What's this about saving someone?"

Mula Flaga in Unit 1 asked, feeling puzzled.

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

"Then focus. Don't get distracted during battle. Enemy units are coming. Disrupt their attacks on the Archangel, but remember not to stray too far."

"Understood."

The two Skygraspers climbed, then turned to fire at the pursuing MS team, while the Archangel also launched multiple missiles toward the rear.

The five MS units of the Athrun Team scattered in the face of the Archangel's firepower, each seeking their assigned targets according to Athrun's plan.

"Hey, hey, you ingrate, you actually chased after me."

Seeing Shihe's CGUE coming directly for him, Li Boyong complained frantically in his mind.

The Beam Experimental CGUE, riding a Guul, stayed glued to the tail of Unit 2.

Whenever Li Boyong felt he was in danger, he would move closer to the Archangel, forcing Shihe back with the Archangel's heavy firepower.

After all, that CGUE didn't have Phase Shift Armor like the Gundams, so Shihe didn't dare to pursue too deeply, instead providing suppressive fire from behind the Aegis.

"Ora! Don't think you'll succeed!"

Mula Flaga chose the Buster, which posed the greatest threat to the Archangel. Whenever the Buster attempted to use its long-range, large-caliber cannon, he would dive from high altitude to disrupt it with his beam cannon.

"You guy is so annoying!"

Even with Phase Shift Armor, the Buster didn't dare to take the beam cannon's power head-on. Every hurried shot it fired before dodging failed to hit the Archangel.

"Hey, rookie, hurry up and drive this guy away."

Dearka complained.

"Yes."

Shihe replied slowly, helping the Buster drive Unit 1 away.

However, after Mula Flaga broke away and climbed, he continued to fixate on the Buster, diving decisively whenever it made a move.

Dearka was going crazy. "He's at it again! Drive him away, quickly!"

Although Shihe disliked Dearka, they were both ZAFT soldiers, so she did her best to help the Buster avoid Mula Flaga's harassment, but all her shots were dodged by him.

"Can't hit him? Why?" Shihe paused.

"Rookie, do your job properly!"

"I am, but this guy's technique is very good."

To disrupt the Buster, Mula Flaga would dive even while under Shihe's fire, risking his life. Fortunately, his skills were excellent, and he successfully completed the disruption mission.

But even so, the Archangel was not safe; the flanking Blitz and the persistent Aegis and Duel put significant pressure on the ship.

Especially the Blitz, which kept aiming its Trikeros at the Archangel's engines, looking eager to strike.

However, whenever that happened, Li Boyong's Unit 2 would charge in to interfere.

The gleaming Ship-Slicing Blade swept past during Unit 2's charge; the Blitz had to dodge unless it wanted to be cut in half.

Then, the startled Blitz would turn to attack Unit 2. At this point, Li Boyong would use every ounce of his strength to maneuver and evade, leading the Blitz in circles through the Archangel's anti-aircraft fire.

The Blitz pursued Unit 2 for a while, but after taking a missile hit at close range, Unit 2 managed to escape.

The battle was raging, but the Archangel never stopped its retreat.

The battlefield kept nearing Orb's territorial waters. Suddenly, an Orb fleet appeared near the border and issued a warning to both sides.

Yzak, who was supposed to maintain pressure on the Archangel alongside the Aegis, gradually grew impatient with the lack of decisive results in this shooting battle. Although his beam rifle scored many hits, the Laminated Armor prevented significant damage.

Of course, many missiles and railgun rounds hit the mark, leaving the Archangel smoking, but they couldn't stop the ship. If the Archangel escaped into Orb, it would be troublesome; after all, Orb was only neutral on the surface.

Seeing the unit's energy depleting over time, Yzak recklessly charged in, looking as if he wanted to fight the Strike to the death.

As a result, the Strike seized the opportunity and blew up his Guul with a single shot.

But Yzak's personality was stubborn to the core; after leaving the Guul, he tried to jump onto the Archangel.

However, Kira, piloting the Aile Strike, met him head-on. In the moment the two units crossed, he sliced off the Duel's beam saber hilt with one strike and kicked the Duel into the sea.

The Blitz had a bad feeling when it saw the Duel overextending, and it rushed over to provide support.

"Taste my forty-meter blade!"

Li Boyong seized the opportunity to launch a sneak attack from behind the Blitz.

"What?"

Nicol was shocked by the cockpit alarm and hurriedly maneuvered the Guul to dodge, narrowly avoiding the Ship-Slicing Blade.

No!

Nicol couldn't dodge completely. Although the Blitz wasn't damaged, a small piece of the Guul's flight wing was sliced off.

"Tch!"

The smoking Guul plummeted toward the sea with the Blitz. Nicol was unwilling to give up like this; while Unit 2 hadn't turned back yet, he detached from the Guul and relied on his back thrusters to barely get closer to the Archangel.

"Hit it!"

The triple-barreled Armor Piercing Spike fired at the Archangel's engines. One missed, one hit the tail fin, and one struck the Archangel's No. 1 thruster.

The thruster hit by the spike exploded and lost power, and the Archangel began to lose altitude, tilting as it fell toward Orb's territorial waters. ===== CHAPTER 34 =====