Chapter 38: I Have no Regret in My Life
V2 had gotten out of communication distance, the enemy had not yet reached within sight, and Uraki was both glad and relieved at his decision.
He was glad that he had followed Doctor out, otherwise, the doctor would have no chance to escape with Freedom and so many Zaku Ⅲ's chasing behind. He was relieved that even if he eliminated all the enemies, the remaining power is unlikely to support him to fly to the closest coast, so he doesn't need to worry about his life: he is doomed anyway.
Uraki recalled all the battles he had fought since he joined the army. Starting with the GP02 being taken by force, he was always forced to fight in obedience to orders. Only this moment, for the first time in his life, he fought on his own will, and for the first time felt that he could really do something with his power.
"Now I'm a man of conviction, right? The next time Shinn asks me this question, I can answer him like this."
He quickly checked the available armaments of ZakuIII. Except for the beam rifle in his hand, there were only the beam cannon, beam saber plus three grenades. But it doesn't matter. The enemy is also equipped with the same weapons, the time has come to show the technology gap.
He had never driven a Zaku Ⅲ before, but so what? He had never driven a GP03 before either. It was just a Zaku, could it compete with the Doctor's Dendrobium?
He looked at the radar. Five small dots of light were rapidly approaching at a speed visible to the naked eye. Freedom Gundam clearly had a longer range than he did, so he has to at least drag the fight into within his visual range.
"If the doctor took Miss Lacus back, how is he going to explain it to Miss C.C.? It's going to be interesting to watch the Doctor's expression at that time." Uraki suddenly thought of that and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
That made it seem less tense.
He inwardly estimated the distance between the two sides, brainstorming the enemy's position on the radar. It was about time, and the first one appeared in his view was -
"Freedom Gundam …" Uraki fired while evading the shots from the opposite side, "It's really stressful to fight with the Doctor's masterpiece in a Zaku. "
The only good thing is that everyone is now inside the atmosphere, the opponent's D.R.A.G.O.O.N. system can not be used here, otherwise, it is completely impossible to fight. Gravity and air resistance give a sticky feeling to all operations, but it's the same for the other side. No, this feeling should only be an advantage for me after years of service on Earth.
Uraki relied on his years of experience to tangle with Freedom Gundam for a short time before four Zakus came into view. Sudden snipings from multiple angles forced him to roll in the lateral high-speed movement as a way to avoid beam rifle fire.
"This kind of movement …!" Athrun watched Zaku's incredible movement with his mouth wide open. He is not able to lock on or predict the trajectory of that Zaku at all, and none of his shots hit the Zaku, "Is this the G-force that humans can withstand?! Even we Coordinators can not do it!"
"Athrun, what are you waiting for?" The voice of Creuset on the friend channel interrupted Athrun's shock, "Leave him alone, leave this Zaku to me! Go after that Gundam immediately and destroy it straight away! That's an order!"
"Yes sir!" Athrun immediately understood the captain's meaning, only his Freedom Gundam was nuclear powered.
Uraki watched reluctantly as Freedom Gundam got rid of him and flew away in the dust. There was no way to stop it, but at least, I won't let go of these ZakuⅢs, even at the cost of my life!
The four ZakuⅢs in view were all equipped with beam rifles, just like his one. However, one of them was clearly painted differently from the other three, which should be Creuset's. It is said that he is the same as Kira Yamato of Orb Union, an all-around ACE. Well, we'll see how much strength he has today if he's an ACE.
Uraki switched the power supply of the beam rifle from the built-in battery to the fuselage power supply, and launched continuous fire suppression regardless of the cost, which is his biggest advantage nowadays. The Minovsky floating system consumes a lot of energy, and if the opponent still wants to continue the pursuit mission, they must pay attention to the use of energy weapons like beam rifles and beam cannons.
And remaining power is meaningless to him. He doesn't need to pay attention to it.
Under Creuset's command, each of the four MSs spread out and attacked him from four different angles. Uraki continued to evade by relying on his superior physical strength, and the ZakuⅢ was worthy of being ZAFT's latest MS, its excellent performance responded well to his maneuvers.
Even just by stalling like this, Uraki has already accomplished his first strategic goal.
After a while, the four Zaku Ⅲ's started to shoot while closing in on Uraki. Good, the opponent's rifle batteries are running out, so they didn't want to use up their energy, so the second strategic goal was achieved.
Creuset's shots were accurate, putting a lot of pressure on him. He was not sure of destroying three Zakus while dodging Creuset's attacks, much less taking out Creuset against three Zakus' support shots. If there is no chance, I'll have to create my own chance.
Uraki fired back in the dodging gap, pressing his opponent's vertical position toward the sea and dropping down himself. He silently calculated their respective positions and threw two grenades forward at a perfect point in time. The grenades exploded when they entered the water, splashing a huge wave, and the views of Creuset and the nearest MS should be blocked for at least five seconds, which was enough time.
The Zaku Ⅲ dodged the attacks of the remaining two Zakus with ease. One of the enemy Zaku took two shots in the cockpit and exploded in place. Uraki threw another grenade not far from his feet and continued shooting at the other Zaku. It was risky to play the same trick twice, and Creuset and his wingmen weren't going to stand still for another five seconds, but Uraki had no other choice.
The moment the second Zaku was detonated, the third Zaku burst through the water curtain and appeared behind Uraki, the beam cannon on its head quickly catching its target and ready to fire. Uraki opened the side and front posture vents to the maximum and rolled behind the Zaku in the nick of time, and the powerful twisting force of the momentary change from static to dynamic made him want to vomit.
But then, he exposed himself completely to Creuset's gun. Having no choice, he used his last instinct to fine-tune the position of his ZakuⅢ, and his head and right arm were destroyed at the same time, but he also took this moment to hit the Zaku in front of him directly with his beam cannon.
"Third strategic objective achieved." Uraki with a smile on his face panted heavily, the long continuous high-intensity maneuver was too much even for him, and his every internal organ seemed to be out of its original position, "Only you left, Creuset, let me see how strong you are."
The only remaining armaments on his Zaku Ⅲ were the beam cannon and beam saber on the skirt armor, the beam rifle was destroyed along with the right arm, while Creuset's Zaku was intact. Uraki's Zaku Ⅲ's armor wasn't thick enough and it didn't have a shield, otherwise, he could have cleared out the three Zakus first, instead of fighting as badly as he did now.
But it doesn't matter. He just needs to consume the power of Creuset's MS before he gets destroyed, and the energy-starved Creuset will be forced to return. In his mind, the doctor is a symbol of omnipotence, and he must have a way to get rid of the Freedom Gundam.
He never wanted to destroy the opposite side with one against four. Uraki is not a rookie, from the beginning he knew it was impossible to defeat Creuset. All he had to do was keep the important people alive, that's all.
"Nice power." Creuset didn't feel sad at all for the death of three of his men, instead, he spoke in the public channel, "But with such an MS, what else can you do?"
Uraki didn't even have the strength to retort, and just used his left arm to hold the beam saber, trying to advance towards Creuset while evading Creuset's fire. The explosion of the MS's right arm also damaged part of the posture control nozzles, and many maneuvers could not be performed.
To Creuset's eyes, the tattered ZakuⅢ twisted its body in the air with various comical movements like a drunken man who had had too much to drink. He looked at his remaining energy and tsked irritably, "Let's end this farce."
Creuset switched the power of his rifle, which had run out of batteries, to the fuselage power supply and started firing continuously. The crippled Zaku on the other side held on for a while, but soon, Uraki lost the MS's left arm and legs in the hail of bullets. It might be luck, but the bullets didn't hit the cockpit and power furnace.
The one-sided abuse didn't last long, and finally, Uraki's Zaku's Minovsky floating system was damaged and the Zaku sank into the water with a huge splash in the blink of an eye.
Creuset looked at the place where the Zaku sank and lost interest in hunting Uraki down. This man is insignificant and can not affect the script, there's no need to waste time. Creuset smoothly threw three grenades down and began to return to the ship in the sound of the explosion, "Athrun, do not let me down."
At this moment, the Uraki who sank into the water just opened the cockpit but before he could get out, the sudden explosion behind him made him choke violently with blood. Fortunately, the seawater effectively inhibited the fragmentation of the grenades, otherwise, he would have been killed now.
Uraki turned on the physical ejection switch that worked even without power and followed the seat as it plunged into the water. Then he opened the automatic inflatable airbag under the seat, and his body began to rise slowly under the effect of buoyancy. Coming to the surface, he breathed heavily for oxygen, and there was no longer Creuset in his field of vision.
"The strategic objectives were all achieved." He sat on the chair, rising and falling along with the rhythm of the waves, looking at the endless Pacific Ocean and thinking happily, "The rest is up to the doctor himself. You must be okay!"
But where will he drift to? He regretted that he didn't learn geography properly back then. Which direction are the currents in the Pacific Ocean? Ah, yes, will there be sharks? Being eaten by sharks or dying of thirst, which is worse?
Thinking so, Uraki suddenly felt a little fear, but only a little, nothing to regret. This was the first and perhaps the last time in his life that he had done something important with his own will and strength, and he felt immensely satisfied.
