Chapter 158 – Battle
Kou Uraki plunged into the water, immediately using the advanced sensors on the GP01 to locate the biggest threat—Grublo (Grabro).
But before that, he had to deal with other enemies.
These were the Zeon aquatic units that had just been clashing with the Aqua Gundam.
This time, there were no special ops mobile suits—just Goggs and Z'Goks.
The Aqua Gundam had already taken out two enemy suits, but overall, it was still at a disadvantage.
Naturally, the Zeon remnants quickly noticed the newly arrived Gundam entering the water.
"Looks like it's not even as tough as that old one!"
The veterans among the Zeon remnants immediately realized that the GP01 had entered the water using external equipment.
They split off two Gogg units to take down the newcomer as well.
That way, not only would they fulfill the Federation bastard's commission, but they could also use the achievement to ask the Delaz Fleet—whom they'd recently reestablished contact with—for a reward.
If things went well, they might even return to space and keep fighting for Zeon!
Uraki had no idea what the enemy was thinking, but he tightened his grip on the control sticks and entered combat mode.
To be honest, not wearing a pilot suit in battle made Uraki feel a bit insecure.
But the thought that he was piloting a Gundam—the same kind of machine that both the Captain and Amuro used—steadied his heart.
He fired two shots from his beam rifle to force the two Goggs back.
Though neither shot landed, they detonated the incoming torpedoes from the Goggs, forcing them to slow down and retreat from the blast radius before they charged toward the GP01 again.
Noticing this, Uraki activated the aquatic thrusters on both shoulders and charged toward the Goggs head-on.
During the approach, he had already drawn the torpedo launcher and began firing continuously at them!
One Gogg stayed in place to keep Uraki's attention, while the other began a flanking maneuver, returning fire with torpedoes aimed at the GP01.
"They're trying to flank you. Listen, kid—just focus on the one in front. Leave the one behind to us!"
The comms from Arcadia came through loud and clear. Uraki, who had been about to dive down and try to escape the encirclement, abandoned that plan and threw himself straight at the Gogg in front of him!
The Gogg pilot noticed Arcadia's tactic, but in order to maintain the encirclement, braced itself with its claws extended and waited in a defensive posture.
The two mobile suits quickly closed in! Relying on years of experience, the Gogg pilot swung the claw arm with all his might, predicting where the Gundam would appear next—
—but it didn't!
The Gundam vanished from the main camera feed.
Uraki had forcefully dove down, positioning himself directly beneath the Gogg.
"Underwater? That kind of maneuverability!?"
Those were the pilot's last words. The GP01's beam saber pierced straight through the cockpit.
Meanwhile, the Gogg that had tried to circle around was hit by a barrage of long-range weapons from the surface.
Arcadia, missing several shots and growing impatient, leaped straight from his SFS into the sea after Sanders fired a volley of beams. Despite piloting a unit not suited for underwater combat, he closed the distance and eliminated the Gogg at close range with his beam rifle.
With the grunts taken care of, Uraki shifted his attention to the real threat.
"Captain, I have an idea!"
Grublo had just finished a charge. Uraki quickly explained his plan to Arcadia.
"No time—just tell me what to do!"
"Alright, Captain, you go distract Grublo."
"Got it—wait, what?"
Arcadia looked at his lightly armored G-line and then at the GP01 equipped for underwater combat.
This kid wasn't pulling any punches.
"Alright, Arcadia—get moving. Don't let the rookie look down on you."
Eli, who had just returned to the Albion from fetching missiles and was now boarding the GP04, chimed in through the comms.
"If I die, I'll definitely come back and haunt you!"
Arcadia didn't hesitate anymore. He fired up his thrusters and charged toward Grublo.
Eli just smiled, clearly not taking the threat seriously.
The lift platform brought the GP04 to the deck, but Eli didn't launch using the catapult. Instead, he kept moving forward and stationed the GP04 right on the deck.
It reminded him of two years ago—his first time fighting alongside Amuro and the Gundam had started just like this.
No more distractions—Eli raised his custom long-range beam rifle and aimed toward the Aqua Gundam's direction.
Zhwmm!
He fired a shot, but it missed.
The Aqua Gundam's pilot was a veteran too. The moment the shot was fired, he surfaced while launching torpedoes from his back.
This first shot was just a test—it wouldn't miss next time.
Sure enough, the fatigued Z'Gok that had chased up too far was pierced through the cockpit by a beam that broke through the surface of the water!
"GP01 has thrown out torpedoes using remote fuzes!"
Nina's voice burst over the comms in surprise—clearly not expecting Uraki to do that.
While helping relieve the Aqua Gundam, Uraki had already begun executing his plan.
He launched all torpedoes from both shoulders and the handheld launcher in a fan-shaped pattern east of the two Pegasus-class ships, then quickly pulled the GP01 away.
"Ah, not a bad idea."
Eli immediately understood what Uraki was planning and fired a shot from the beam rifle aimed in front of Grublo.
Zhwmm!
The long-range beam rifle had better particle convergence than standard rifles and penetrated deeper into the water, but Grublo still managed to dodge.
However, the dodge forced Grublo to change direction.
"Whoa! Captain, I'm still on top of Grublo!"
Arcadia, clinging to Grublo with his G-line and trying to damage it with his beam saber, shouted in frustration.
Hearing that, Eli fired several more shots, pushing Grublo toward the torpedo field.
At the same time, Arcadia finally found the thrusters on Grublo. With one hand clutching its armor and the other drawing his beam saber, he slashed down hard.
Then, Arcadia immediately pulled back, watching as Grublo charged toward the torpedoes.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
At that moment, Uraki hit the trigger for the torpedo detonation.
To guarantee the effect, he followed up with shots from his beam rifle, hitting the torpedoes as well.
He also noticed beams from above the water striking the same torpedo field.
Eli, in the GP04, had joined the attack.
The chain-reaction explosions forced Grublo to slow down—any further, and it might've been blown apart on the spot.
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