Chapter 132: The Broken Wings
"The main target of this group calling itself Celestial Being is the senior officers of TITANS." Scirocco asserted to his men as such, "The other side is always able to accurately grasp our army's route of movement and quickly find the location of our flagship. Since we are now using the same chain of command as the Earth Federation, I can say for sure that there is a mole in the Earth Federation."
The briefing room was filled with almost all the ACEs of TITANS, and there was an uproar at the news. Scirocco's eyes swept around, and everyone quickly quieted down.
"This time, the main target of our joint operation with Britannia is to find and bring down the other side's mothership, and the secondary goal is to capture or bring down the other side's Gundam." Scirocco continued, "There are currently four known enemy MSs, and for some unknown reason, The-O has been out of action for a long time, so we're treating it as three and don't count it in."
Saying so, Scirocco opened the projection, and TITANS and Britannia's army map appeared on the big screen. From the diagram, it could be seen that the two armies were far apart, and TITANS's chain of command was split in two, at the two ends.
"Following their usual habit, they like to break into the command center with heavy firepower, and quickly retreat after a successful strike. So we lengthened the battle line as a way to split the other side's three Gundams and leave them to fight on their own." Scirocco pointed to the position of the front line of TITANS troops and said coldly, "The fleet will buy time for you, and we only need to attack one Gundam together. Don't let me down."
"Yes, Colonel!" Everyone present replied in a loud voice.
"I'll take on one of them alone." Scirocco said and pointed to the rear of the fleet, "Britannia will be responsible for dealing with the remaining one, as well as for searching for the enemy mothership. Once we find the enemy mothership, our two armies will immediately turn around and attack the Celestial Being mothership with full force. Any other questions? If not, the meeting will be adjourned and the whole army will attack."
After that, Scirocco turned off the projection and walked out of the briefing room. The ACEs also got up and followed him. Colonel Scirocco headed to the locker room and went straight to the hangar to board his MS, still not wearing his pilot's suit — he was always so confident.
Half an hour later, he was already in the Super Gundam on standby on the battlefield. Sitting at the rear, there were no Minovsky particles scattered around him, so he could conveniently coordinate the whole situation and give orders.
"Colonel, urgent message." The voice of CIC on the battleship rang out on the channel, "Britannia has engaged the enemy No.1 with wings, and the front line has engaged the No.3 that can transform."
"Then the one on my side will be the one with light wings, not a big deal—" Scirocco's muttering to himself came to an abrupt end, and with a flash of electricity in his head, the Super Gundam surged to the side under his manipulation. A thick particle beam roared past his original position, and two battleships behind him sank in response to the sound.
"All troops dive." He gave the instruction and then sped towards the source of the sniping at high speed, "Trying to take out me by such unorthodox means? Too naive!"
The distance between Scirocco and the Destiny Gundam was closing rapidly. Even while traveling at high speed, he was able to use his NT sensing and subtle micromanagement to roll around and dodge every shot from above.
"My MS has an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower and maneuverability." Having entered a very close distance, Scirocco put away his beam rifle and shield, and unfolded his beam saber with each hand, "But once we enter into a physical battle, the difference in technology will surpass the performance of MS and become the decisive factor in winning. Sadly, this world is dominated by geniuses."
Scirocco came out with his full strength, and the two beam sabers smashed into the Destiny Gundam's beam shield, forcing it to retreat. Destiny also tried to counterattack, but was no match for Scirocco's fierce attacks.
In just a few rounds of fights, Scirocco was actually able to gain the upper hand with a flourish.
"Just like Britannia's so-called ACEs, they are all relying on the performance of their MSs, and their real strength is just — Huh?" Scirocco's sneer suddenly stopped, and the Destiny Gundam's movements suddenly became smooth, and began to do an effective counterattack against Scirocco, "Heh, that's more like it."
The two MSs were once again tangled together, and at first glance, they looked evenly matched, and Scirocco wasn't sure he could take the other side anytime soon. But he was in no hurry, now that all three Gundams were stopped, and he could always wait for the desired development as long as it went on like this.
"Colonel!" His long-awaited friendly communication finally rang, "Britannia Army's Arios Gundam has found the enemy command center, it's a warship!"
…
"So grandpa, what exactly am I in charge of?" Kamille grumbled idly, "The Doctor removed The-O's gun, and now he won't even let me strike, so why on earth did he want me to join this organization in the first place?"
"The Doctor said the ship needed an NT radar." Chang Wufei replied indifferently, "All the other NTs have their own place, only you are free."
"So I'm the human-shaped radar, so I'm the only one without an exclusive Gundam." Kamille bristled unhappily, "It's fine too, you guys shouldn't expect anything from me, and I don't have to work hard."
While the two were talking, Stella kept shifting around restlessly in her skirt. The corners of her skirt followed her steps and raised slightly, attracting Kamille's eyes. He stealthily stole two glances, then averted his gaze out of guilt, and after a while, he could not resist the temptation and peered at her again.
"Well, grandpa." Asuka's gloriously grand image appeared in Kamille's mind, and he embarrassedly withdrew his gaze, "Why was Kou Uraki-san so excited just now? He shouted something about 'I oppose this marriage,' it's too strange, right?"
"It shows that Kou was well educated by the Doctor. I also intended to shout, and was preempted." Chang Wufei could not help but look worried, "We have an old Chinese saying that 'misfortune comes out of the mouth,' some things seem superstitious, but they cannot be measured by common sense."
"You adults are really inexplicable, you care about other people getting married, and now you forced Shinn to change it to an engagement." Kamille said and stole a glance at Stella, "Engaged …"
"Grandpa, there's something approaching in!" Mayu suddenly shouted, "The other side might have found us, so fast!"
"Seems like something? NT?" Kamille also looked thoughtfully into the distance almost at the same time. The next moment, a deafening cry of sorrow came into his mind, and he immediately shrank into a ball of pain, convulsing and fell to the ground and let out a miserable scream, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Let me die! Let me die!" A woman kept screaming in agony, "Please! Someone! Let me die!"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh!" Stella somehow followed the scream with her hands on her head. Her eyes staring blankly at the ground, and her eyeballs protruding hideously, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
"GN-Drive?"Chang Wufei immediately reacted and waved his hand, "Shoot that MS down, and also, tell them not to get attached to the battle and return to the ship quickly!"
"Shinn, I want Shinn!" Stella looked up and looked around, "Where's Shinn? Where's Shinn? I don't want to die! Shinn, I don't want to die!"
"Stella, don't." Kamille struggled to her feet and reached out to her, trying to soothe Stella's consciousness through his mental energy, "Don't, listen to her, talk!"
"Don't touch me!" Stella shouted hysterically as she slapped away his hand, "Shinn! I want Shinn!"
She looked around blankly for a moment, then suddenly turned and ran. Realizing that something was wrong, Chang Wufei rushed after her, while giving orders to the entire ship, "Contain Stella, at all costs."
Stella's enhanced and modified body possessed the extraordinary athletic ability, leaving Chang Wufei far behind. The people on board had never encountered anything like this before, and although they all did their best to stop her, no one could stop her at all along the way. A few moments later, Stella ran to the hangar.
She looked at the Altron Gundam and The-O. She only hesitated for less than a second, and the images of Scirocco and The-O appeared violently in her mind, causing her to let out a painful cry of sorrow once again.
"I don't want to die!" She twisted her body as if she had broken free of some shackles, jumped into the cockpit of The-O, and skillfully booted up and started, "Shinn! Where's Shinn!"
"She can't communicate right now, she may really destroy the interior of the ship!" Chang Wufei made an immediate decision, "Open the hatch and let her out."
The hangar's hatch opened and Stella piloted The-O out without hesitation, speeding down toward the battlefield below. The radar showed the location of the Destiny Gundam, and Stella just sped towards the point of light on the map by instinct in a headlong rush.
As she got closer to the point of light, a voice suddenly sounded in her head, "This is an unexpected pleasure, Stella, do you remember me?"
"…Scirocco?" Stella replied blankly as the Destiny Gundam finally appeared in front of her eyes, still in a fight with the Super Gundam.
"Very well, obey my orders, just like before." Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, the voice seemed to carry some kind of magic, making her involuntarily want to do what he said, "If you don't want to die, take out this MS in front of you."
"Stella, can you hear me?" A familiar voice rang out from The-O, but she suddenly couldn't remember whose voice it belonged to, "Stella, what are you doing, Stella!"
"I don't want to die." Her eyes lost their sparkle and she muttered to herself, "Finish this MS off."
Then The-O stretched out two mechanical hands, and then with a single swing of its four arms, four beam sabers abruptly unfolded, and The-O lunged towards the Destiny Gundam.
"Stella, come to your senses!" Shinn simultaneously fought with two enemies and six beam sabers, anxiously sweating, "Do not be compelled by him! Do you remember my voice? It's me, I'm Shinn!"
"…Shinn?" Stella's attacks slowed.
"It's me, it's Shinn!" Shinn called out impatiently, "We agreed to go back and get married, remember?"
"Shinn? Get married?" Stella suddenly stopped moving and froze in place, but the next moment, Scirocco's voice stabbed into her head again, "Uhhhhhhhhhh, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
The-O attacked again crazily towards the Destiny Gundam.
"Scirocco!" Shinn shouted with his eyes wide open and his teeth gritted, "I'll kill you!"
"Hmph, the wailing of a defeated dog." Scirocco launched a continuous onslaught, "Stella, I know you've always been the best in your group. Very well, just finish him off."
A few rounds down, the Destiny Gundam woefully dodged their attacks and tried to contact Chang Wufei.
Only at this time, he suddenly realized, "When did the Minovsky particle concentration rise to this degree?"
"Stupid." Scirocco sneered once again, "Your strength is okay, but your intelligence is too bad, today, I will —"
The Super Gundam suddenly twisted to avoid the continuous shooting from afar. His NT sense again saved his life. Wing Gundam Zero appeared in everyone's view.
"Shinn, sorry, I'm late, there are a dozen ACEs pestering me." Kira's apologetic voice rang out on the friendly channel, "The mothership was attacked, Uraki went back to support."
"Kira-san!" Asuka shouted eagerly, "Stella, Stella, she …"
"Captain Chang Wufei says if she can't come back to her sense, then I must shoot her down. She knows too much." Kira blocked Scirocco's attack, "I'm sorry, that's the order. The mothership is under siege, we don't have time."
"How can this be? I can't accept it!" Shinn shouted desperately, "Stella! I beg you, wake up, Stella!"
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" Scirocco kept talking in her head, but Stella was deaf to her lover's cries and just launched into a desperate attack, "Finish you! Finish you so I don't have to die!"
"Shinn, retreat!" Kira found that he couldn't take down Scirocco in a short time, so he decisively activated his SEED to force Scirocco back, "There's no time for romance!"
"Give me a little more time, I can do it, I can do it!" Shinn deceived himself and hissed, "Stella was just momentarily confused, she can definitely come to her senses!"
"Shinn." Kira uttered intolerantly, "I'll do it."
"… I'll do it myself!" Shinn gritted his teeth hard, casually sliced The-O's mechanical arm, and aimed the beam saber at The-O's fuselage, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
At the last moment, he finally couldn't resist closing his eyes, and tears came out of his eyes. The beam saber pierced through The-O's fuselage without any resistance under his impetus, the energy of the saber shut off, and The-O, whose body had a big hole, froze in the air for a short moment, and then fell headlong into the sea without any other moves. The sound of explosion came from below, and the blaze of fire stung his eyes.
"I … I …" he choked and clenched his fists as the sea resounded with his desperate cry, "Stella !!!!!!!!! "
