Gundam, but from the Ground Alliance to the Human Alliance to the out-of-control servitor

Marco Polo's ship shook slightly, "What's going on?" Major General Cunningham asked.

Being manipulated by the secondary battery battleship, Marco Polo sensed the feedback from the ship's hull, but before she could take action, other battleships in the fleet opened fire one after another, destroying the last counterattack force of the Guvalan.

"The hull of the ship is not seriously damaged. Several anti-aircraft guns on the port side were destroyed."

Probably different from those "soul-possessed" ship girls, Marco Polo does not feel pain due to damage, which affects his state and judgment.

Chapter 27: A fight to the death (1)

"Lieutenant Char, your anti-Dutch suit..."

"No need. If the cockpit is damaged, the driver will die. I will dispatch first..." (Note 1)

"But there's still a long way to go before the attack starts..."

Zaku, who was painted in crimson, broke away from the fixed mechanism and opened the hangar door before the operator finished speaking.

"Sergeant, don't forget that I am the commander of the MS assault force. Let the others follow you!" Lieutenant Char, wearing a mask and a red military uniform, was driving Zaku, who was also painted with his own personality. , left the mothership.

The transvestite blond lieutenant, after leaving the mothership, turned Zaku's thrust to the maximum. While enjoying the ultimate pushing feeling, he flew towards the battlefield in the distance that occasionally burst into flames.

About 120km away from the main battlefield, relying on meter particle interference and the obstruction of colonial debris, the Principality of Zeon

The First Special Assault Team, a total of 26 Papua-class transport ships, is hiding here quietly.Each of them is fully loaded with 24 Zaku machines, plus 8 additional tethered machines. There are more than 800 Zaku machines hidden here, which are the sharp blades that Dozru has been hiding since the war.

And now, the blade is out of its sheath.

"Commander Cunningham, enemy mobile suits are approaching quickly below our fleet, the number...1?" Marco Polo, who had always regarded Zeon's mobile suits as the highest threat, noticed that a particularly fast Zaku was flying from behind. The troops below rushed toward Ray Bill's central force, the 1st Fleet.

"Is aircraft 1 a lost reconnaissance force...or the leader of a larger attack wave?" The real-time image of this Zaku was immediately projected onto the big screen in CIC by Marco Polo, but at this time, the Zaku was still It's just a small bright spot on the screen that needs to be circled to barely recognize it.

"In short, prepare for air defense operations and warn the Anankai to let them pay attention." Major General Cunningham's military knowledge made him a little confused. Judging from the approaching direction of this Zaku machine, it should not belong to the one that had previously entangled the federal fleet. A batch, but is he here to alert the Federation fleet that the big one is coming?

At the same time, the Anankai received a warning from the Marco Polo.

"A Zaku is approaching from below, be careful?" Captain Scott, the captain of the Anankai, squinted his eyes, trying to identify the small bright spots circled on the intelligence image. "Second officer, I want to ask Did the observers below the ship notice anything unusual?"

"Yes!" Another officer on the bridge quickly picked up the ship's communication microphone. After thinking for a moment, he remembered this number, which had only recently been added to the post.

"Hello? This is the bridge, sergeant. Have you noticed anything unusual below the fleet?"

At the bottom of the ship, through the portholes, the observer was watching the back-and-forth artillery battle between the Federation fleet and the Zeon fleet. As soon as he heard this, he quickly turned his optical telescope to the bottom of the ship.

In the lens, except for the nearby friendly warships, there are only blurry starlights in the dark deep space background of the universe, with halos, passing through the fog of Mega particles.

"Abnormal...abnormal..." the observer turned the telescope randomly, "...no, no...yes, yes!"

"What is there? Is it there?" The second officer was a little annoyed. He knew as soon as he heard that the observer was not doing anything serious.

"An enemy mobile suit is approaching rapidly from below! Contact is estimated to be 40...ah no, 30 seconds!"

"what!?"

The red Zaku almost kept accelerating and rushed straight towards the Federation's 1st Fleet;

"God, kneel down to me!" At the moment when the muzzle fire of the federal warship's close-in defense gun flashed, Lieutenant Charia pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher, then turned an almost right-angled corner, avoiding the close Anti-cannon flames.

This high muzzle velocity nuclear rocket hit the connection between the hull and the nuclear rocket of a Magellan-class ship of the 5th Battle Squadron from below, causing the Magellan-class ship to lose half of its thrust on the spot.

"More enemy mobile suits, numbering more than 750, were observed, approaching from below." The Marco Polo's hull began to slowly roll, aiming its starboard side, which still had intact anti-aircraft firepower, at the incoming Zeon assault force.

"Can we still conduct a salvo of missiles!?" Rear Admiral Cunningham pursed his lips and answered his question the next moment, "No, the missile stocks of each ship have been almost exhausted, and the effect will be very limited..."

In fact, it is not just missiles. It has been more than an hour since the main federal fleet entered the battle. Almost all types of live ammunition stocks have been consumed. The designers of the federal warships did not expect that one day those precision-guided weapons would be used. It will be quickly wasted on the battlefield with an effective hit rate of single digit percentage.

At this time, Major Albert, who had not spoken for a long time, spoke. In his mind, the image of Zeon's Zakus attacking wantonly in the colonial satellite appeared in his mind.

"Commander, is Zaku's rocket so powerful because of its nuclear warhead? And according to the regulations of the Space Force, any force responsible for a nuclear strike should immediately carry out a nuclear counterattack when it suffers a preemptive nuclear strike from the enemy, right?" A cruel smile appeared on Major Albert's face.

"Ah...is this a nuclear bomb used to destroy descending colonial satellites?" Albert's words surprised Major General Cunningham.

Marco Polo thoughtfully put the nearest strike range where the nuclear bomb would not cause friendly fire, as well as the estimated time it would take for the Zeon mobile suits to break through this range, on the small screen next to Major General Cunningham's seat.

You have nuclear bombs, and so do I, and the yield is greater than yours, Marco Polo thought to herself. The 10 nuclear warheads were deployed on her ship at the last moment before the attack - she guessed it was the 1,2,4,9, 10, [-], and [-] fleets. The flagship has [-] rounds per ship, used to prevent colonial satellites from hitting the earth.However, it is definitely better to use it to resist the imminent attack of powerful enemies than to wait for the opportunity to shoot at the colonial satellite.

Rear Admiral Cunningham closed his eyes, and countless tactical calculations and strategic considerations passed through his mind - opening his eyes again, perhaps it was what had always been on the Marco Polo, no matter what mission was assigned, he could get immediate feedback. The atmosphere infected him,

"Marco Polo, scan my irises. As Rodney Cunningham, commander of the Federal Space Force's 2nd Fleet, I grant permission to launch a nuclear counterattack against the enemy aircraft currently carrying out a nuclear attack on our fleet."

[Confirm identity authentication, nuclear warhead activation has been approved]

Marco Polo once again took over the missile launch systems of each ship.

Chapter 28: A fight to the death (2)

"What's going on with this birdman Xia! Do you like to take credit so much?"

Major Pierce, who was in charge of part of the second wave of commandos from the Principality of Zeon, was yelling on his phone; due to the unorganized and undisciplined behavior of a certain blond masked man, more than half of the Zaku in the second attack wave entered 3 minutes early. the battlefield.

Because the mothership was far away, and because of his personality of strictly following the plan, Major Pierce fell into the remaining Zaku and watched helplessly as the friendly forces attracted the attention of the Federation in advance and began to be on guard.

"Forget it..." Major Pierce opened the team communication, "...Boys, since Char's gang is so anxious to plug the holes for us and consume the federal ammunition, let them go! Let us make a final decision, Completely defeat the Federation!"

"Oh oh oh -" a burst of cheers came from the communication, 'the military morale is available', Major Pierce thought.

"Concentrate, the federal missiles are coming, be careful to avoid them!" The federal fleet in front of them fired a sparse missile, which seemed to be about the same number as the incoming Zaku. Major Pierce took the lead and rushed towards the federal missile group, deciding Demonstrate standard evasive maneuvers to your subordinates.

"Huh?" Pierce deliberately passed by a federal anti-aircraft missile, but found that the missile ignored him and flew straight forward. "Ha, are you so anxious that you forgot to switch the guidance mode?" '

Major Pierce confirmed and opened the communication again: "The Federation has panicked! Keep your formation and don't be scattered. If anyone is hit by this kind of missile that can't even turn, just go home and start shooting." Farm machinery!”

Other Zaku pilots also noticed this, and the team communication was suddenly filled with cheerful laughter. A small number of Zaku who were particularly confident in their own strength even deliberately moved closer to the federal missile, and then just before the impact, Avoid with glancing bullets.

Major Pierce felt much relieved when he saw that his troops had perfectly avoided the wave of missile attacks by the Federation. He also felt a lot less angry about the other Zaku pilots headed by Char who set off early; he also paid attention. Arriving, dozens of larger missiles slowly flew in from the federal fleet.

"Ha, anti-ship missiles? The guys in the Federation are already in such a hurry." Pierce knew that the first stage rocket of such large anti-ship missiles often uses liquid fuel similar to that of battleships, although it can last longer. acceleration, but the acceleration is slow and requires a long distance to reach rapid speed.

Major Pierce stared at the connection between the anti-ship missile warhead and the missile body, and pulled out the thermal ax; among the mobile suit troops of the Principality of Zeon, if the commander did not show absolutely powerful driving skills, he would not be able to convince his subordinates.

He rushed forward, and then, white light flashed——

Ten huge fireballs lit up together, forming a wall of fire in the void, instantly vaporizing those Zaku who unfortunately crashed into it. For those Zaku who were far away from the center of the explosion, their internal control circuits were also penetrated by high-intensity rays. : Although it still seems to be intact on the outside, it is no longer operable on the inside and can only rush straight towards the federal fleet under the influence of inertia.

It is true that the MS-06C Zaku 2 has enhanced three-defense capabilities in order to use nuclear rocket launchers, but the size of its body limits the Zaku to still be very vulnerable in the face of a real nuclear strike and the federation's high-yield nuclear weapons. .

The flash of the nuclear explosion was clearly visible even to the Tiam fleet, which was far away from the main battlefield and had circled half a circle around Side 2.

Vice Admiral Tiam was stunned for a moment, looking at the tail flame still faintly visible in front of his 4th Fleet, and then looking at the nuclear explosion behind him, which was not near Ifes Island.

"[Earth expletive] has been fooled, let the 23rd Cruiser Squadron continue the pursuit, and the rest of the fleet turn around!"

"What, that's the explosion of a rice particle furnace... isn't it... the Federation's nuclear weapon..." In the distance, on the Valkyrie, the flagship of the Principality of Zeon, Dozuru undoubtedly noticed the dazzling white light, "Like this The attack, if it falls on the Side 3 mainland..."

"It's okay if there is no direct contact. If it is detonated by contact, I am afraid that the outer shell of the colonial satellite will be destroyed instantly, and the shock wave will directly destroy all the buildings on the surrounding inner walls..." The captain of the Valkyrie continued the second half of the sentence, "...The second wave of mobile suit troops is probably in danger."

"No!" Dozlu pointed in the direction of the Federation fleet, "Part of the warriors of the assault force noticed the Federation's intentions and rushed into the enemy's formation first. They had already mixed with the enemy and were not affected by the nuclear strike just now. "

On the Federation side, the chaos in the 9th Fleet on the right wing has gradually spread to the 2st Fleet as the center force under the attack of Zeon's second wave of mobile suits. Zeon's mobile suits have already touched the core of the 1st Fleet.

"Protect the flagship!" A Salamis-class cruiser worked hard to twist its hull and launch anti-aircraft fire to block the scarred Anankai, but his efforts were in vain:

Three black-painted Zakus lined up front and rear and attacked from below. From the perspective of the Salamis class, these three Zakus worked closely together, like one machine.

Facing the Salamis-class close-range anti-aircraft fire, the black Zaku driven by Sergeant Ordiga, who was leading the way, was holding a giant thermal axe. With a dexterous roll, he avoided the anti-aircraft shells and at the same time, made way for the specially-made weapon in the rear. Sergeant Gaia used the ship's sniper rifle; he destroyed the last available close-defense turret of the Salamis-class ship with four consecutive shots, while Sergeant Matthew's body at the end was equipped with a nuclear rocket launcher and passed over the ship. The Salamis class fired a shot into its bridge.

This three-person team destroyed another federal warship in the chaos almost effortlessly.

"Found it, that must be the Anankai."

"The Federation's flagship?"

"Rush rush!"

The black three-machine team immediately pounced on the next target.

---

"The Anankai has lost contact, and Admiral Rebir's whereabouts are unknown!?" Rear Admiral Cunningham stood up in surprise, with disbelief in his eyes, "The 1st Fleet can't even find an intact Magellan class? ?”

'No, if we hadn't made a prompt decision and disabled a nuclear bomb that crippled hundreds of Zakus that rushed towards the 2nd Fleet, I would have had to think about how to save my life.' On the balance of victory in Marco Polo's heart, the battle situation It's tilting against the federation.After Admiral Ray Bill lost contact, the overall flagship authority in the fleet dispatch system was automatically transferred to Marco Polo.

But at this time, she couldn't be as happy as she originally thought.

The 9th Fleet on the far right has completely collapsed, and the flagship 'Hormuz' has been confirmed to have been sunk. It is completely unknown who is in command now. The remaining ships are no longer in formation and are being divided and surrounded by Zeon mobile suits;

The Chinese 1st Fleet was in slightly better shape, but after losing the unified coordination and command of the flagship Anankai, it also showed signs of collapse under the intermittent strikes led by several Zeon ace pilots.

Chapter 29: A fight to the death (3)

"At present, the 1st Fleet can still contact 8 Magellan-class battleships and 27 Salamis-class cruisers, which have been included in the current command sequence, but it may be difficult for them to find a way to integrate into the formation of our 2nd Fleet; How should we deal with the enemy, Commander Cunningham?"

The first wave of MS assault troops from the Principality of Zeon had basically exhausted their ammunition and fuel and returned. The second wave of MS assault troops that rushed to Marco Polo's side were scattered after receiving a round of nuclear bombs. It was no longer the case; and Dozlu's fleet, based on the principle of picking the weak and picking the weak, rushed at full speed towards the right wing of the Federation, and went to the 9th Fleet, which was the first to start the chaos.

So on the current battlefield, for a while, the Federation's 2nd Fleet suddenly had no opponents.

"We turn around and let the federal ships that can still be contacted move closer to the 2nd Fleet... prepare to evacuate the battlefield."

Although the location of the Zeon MS mothership can be roughly guessed by passing the direction of the enemy mobile suit's attack and return, the Federation Space Force currently does not have enough combat power to launch an assault on the MS mothership;

If the Zeon Army's MS supply and preparation capabilities are not hit, then the Federation fleet, which cannot replenish various live ammunition weapons that are crucial for air defense, will be annihilated sooner or later under the repeated attacks of MSs that supply attacks. This is Rear Admiral Cunningham's judgment: While the 2nd Fleet still maintains its structural integrity, it is necessary to consider how to preserve the remaining strength to the maximum extent.

However, from Marco Polo's perspective, there is another option. Now that Dozlu's fleet has given way, the Federation's 2nd Fleet can now continue to accelerate forward and escape from the battlefield through the Side 2 wreckage area. Next Whether it is to wait for an opportunity to rendezvous with the Tiam fleet or to withdraw directly to Luna 2, there are still options.

But for the Federation's 1,9st and [-]th fleets who are still fighting, and Admiral Ray Bill who may be staying on a lifeboat waiting for rescue, this is tantamount to Major General Cunningham abandoning his friendly forces and fleeing on his own. He certainly couldn't make such a decision.

"Understood, the fleet is preparing to turn."

The new route plan was sent to the ships of the 2nd Fleet. Faced with the order to turn around and sail to the center of the battlefield, no captain had any objections.

"Each ship should pay attention to controlling the effective air defense distance and saving ammunition." Marco Polo warned the fleet while adjusting the formation of the 2nd Fleet, placing those warships that were about to run out of close-in defense artillery ammunition or had exhausted it to the center of the fleet. The battleships that still had sufficient strength, including herself, pushed to the outside.

More and more Zeon Zaku pilots have noticed that the Federation's 2nd Fleet still maintains considerable combat effectiveness; even if there is no overall coordinated command, under the leadership of well-trained veterans, a large number of Zaku gave up the already seriously injured federal warships, and rushed to Marco Polo's side with the easily obtained victory.

[Target 1, distance 1.4km, intercepted]

[Target 2, distance 1.05km, intercepted]

...

[Target 17, distance 34m, intercepted]

The Zaku pilots of the Principality of Zeon have gradually become accustomed to Marco Polo's attack mode, going in and out of the edge of her air defense circle - their distance is maintained so that firing with a single close-in anti-aircraft gun is nothing more than a waste of ammunition, and concentrating multiple Only the firepower of close-in defense artillery has a chance of hitting the target, but the continuous incoming nuclear rockets made it difficult for Marco Polo to concentrate his firepower.

In repeated tests, the location where Zeon's nuclear rocket was finally intercepted was getting closer and closer to Marco Polo.

"Attention, the close-in defense gun on the starboard rear side of the federal warship has ceased fire!"

"Does it need to cool down or is it out of ammunition? No matter what, just break through from there!"

The two Zakus carried rocket launchers and quickly descended from the diagonal top of the stern of the Marco Polo, and circled directly behind the Marco Polo's propeller, in the blind spot of the other close-in defense guns. On Zaku's monitor, it could be clearly seen, The only two rear-facing close-in defense guns that could shoot to this position had stopped rotating, and their barrels were not pointing here.

Zaku pointed the rocket launcher at the Marco Polo, "Humph, the last shot? I took this blow... Uh-huh!"

The Mega particle beam from the rear instantly penetrated the two Zakus. A Salamis-class cruiser following the Marco Polo, I don’t know when, several single-mounted Mega particle masters on the ship The cannon has been aimed at this place.

'Phew, the fishing was successful and it can still hold up.' Marco Polo, who used the fleet air defense command system to complete a coordinated kill, turned his attention to the overall status of the federal fleet.

Marco Polo had to admit that Zeon's Zaku pilots had very high tactical literacy. They often rushed to wherever there were federal warships that could maintain an orderly anti-air fire network, so that now the first Although there are still many warships in the 1st Fleet that are still capable of counterattack, most of them are divided and fight independently; only the warships that are closest to the 2nd Fleet can barely be supported by the systematic anti-air firepower of the friendly fleet. Successfully merged with the 2nd Fleet.

However, it is precisely because of this that Zakudu, who rushed towards the 2nd Fleet, was not in full condition to join the battle, and there was a lack of contact between the squadrons, making it impossible to organize a sufficient density of strikes to break through the fleet's air defense network coordinated by Marco Polo.

'When the attacking Zakus run out of ammunition and return home, the Federation can still organize more than 4% of its ships...' Marco Polo calculated silently, and then she noticed that at the edge of her observation distance——

A new Zeon fleet appeared in the direction of the Federation fleet; the eldest daughter of the Zabi family and commander of the Zeon Assault Mobile Force, Kycilia Zabi's fleet, joined as Zeon's last trump card. fought.

20 Musai-class light cruisers and 4 Chibe-class heavy cruisers, led by the Gwakin-class battleship Gwarib, plus a new batch of more than 800 Zaku attack waves, almost all of them Rushing towards the Federation 2nd Fleet, which can still counterattack in an orderly manner.

The first thing to enter the air defense circle was Zeon's large anti-ship missile. Through the explosions and flames that occurred from time to time in the previous battle and the positioning transmitted by friendly forces, Kycilia's fleet was able to complete the launch of the missile beyond the Federation's observation distance.

"Be careful to avoid shelling and intercept enemy missiles." Marco Polo silently calculated the interception rate in his mind, which was less than 70%. The integrity of her hull and the number of available armaments were also gradually decreasing as the battle time prolonged; besides, if it was to intercept missiles Just consume some of the few remaining close-in defense artillery ammunition. In this case, what should we do with Zaku who is following behind?

Chapter 30: A fight to the death (4)

Marco Polo adjusted the posture of the ship while mobilizing the close-in defense guns. "Commander Cunningham, please put on your spacesuit. The current situation of the warship is not enough to guarantee a 100% interception rate." As she spoke, she snapped her fingers and CIC One side of the wall suddenly popped open, and a storage rack with more than a dozen space suits hanging on it slid out.

The federal officers in the CIC quickly began to put on their clothes. This was the first time since Marco Polo entered the battle that it was clear that the warship was likely to be seriously damaged. The fleet staff officer who was the first to finish wearing it tried to save his sense of presence on the Marco Polo ship and saw that the battleship was still there. Major General Cunningham, who was motionless in his seat, quickly picked up a spacesuit and walked over.