Chapter 74: Australia Is in the Middle of Summer
"Amuro, can you handle it?"
While suppressing the enemy forces and picking them off one by one, Eli distractedly asked Amuro.
Upon spotting the red-colored mobile suit in the distance, Amuro initially thought it was Char and eagerly volunteered to face him. However, Eli could sense that the pilot wasn't Char. Judging from the suit's paint job, it was likely another ace pilot from Zeon.
"I can handle it!"
Although Amuro responded confidently, he was actually struggling a bit.
It wasn't that he lacked confidence in defeating his opponent; rather, he noticed that the Dom in front of him had performance levels comparable to his Gundam—possibly even equal.
Amuro abruptly halted his mobile suit, narrowly avoiding the beam that streaked past him.
Zeon had developed their own beam weaponry as well. As this thought crossed his mind, Amuro focused more on evasive maneuvers. When facing beam attacks, the shield's protective capabilities were significantly reduced.
"Left side!"
Suddenly, Amuro spun his mobile suit without warning.
Buzz!
The Gundam tilted slightly, evading a thick beam of light. Amuro then turned to look toward the shadowed area of the colony satellite, where a Rick Dom was positioned, armed with a massive rocket launcher that had just fired the beam.
"Eli-san, I'm counting on you!"
"Understood!"
Having just driven most of the Zeon forces into retreat, Eli immediately charged toward the Rick Dom. Several GM units flew past his EZ-SR to continue suppressing the enemy forces.
"Thanks for the support!" Eli smiled lightly and stomped on the pedal to accelerate.
The Rick Dom, seeing Eli rushing toward it, didn't counterattack or flee. Instead, it discarded the massive rocket launcher in its hands.
Eli knew this wasn't a sign of surrender. The reason was simple: while the beam rocket launcher was a high-powered weapon, it required over ten minutes to recharge after each shot.
The Rick Dom pulled out a machine gun from behind its back and began firing at Eli, attempting to force him to retreat.
While using his shield to block the bullets, Eli halted the EZ-SR's advance.
The barrels of the Gatling gun mounted on his suit began to spin once more. After confirming that there were no colony facilities or friendly units behind the Dom, Eli decisively pulled the trigger!
The stream of bullets instantly engulfed the Rick Dom.
The Dom tried to perform evasive maneuvers, but the sheer volume of bullets tore through its two massive leg thrusters. Soon after, the bullets pierced straight through the front chest armor.
Eli retracted the Gatling gun to its position on the suit's rear shoulder. Looking over, he saw that Amuro had already destroyed the beam rifle of the sniper Dom and was now engaged in melee combat.
Even though Eli trusted Amuro's abilities, he didn't let his guard down and prepared to join the fight.
But before he could, Amuro swiftly sliced off the Dom's right arm and plunged his beam saber into its chest. Using his left hand, Amuro pushed the now-immobile Dom aside.
After confirming that Amuro had dealt with all the enemies and that the Zeon forces were retreating while the Federation forces pressed their advantage, Eli turned toward the nearest cargo ship.
He had a specific reason for taking this extra step. White Base had received intel earlier that a disguised cargo ship leaving Libo would be carrying new MS units for White Base.
Eli approached a damaged cargo ship that had been hit by stray shots, its cockpit breached, leaving one of its pilots dead. Meanwhile, Amuro moved to check another vessel.
"Are you okay?"
Eli maneuvered his suit to place its hand against the damaged cargo ship, using it to block the breach. Even though the person inside was wearing a pilot suit, Eli figured direct exposure to space would still be unsettling.
After stabilizing the suit, Eli activated the cockpit camera to capture an image of the ship's interior.
What he saw nearly made him blurt out a remark.
Isn't that Char?!
Upon closer inspection, the pilot had golden hair and a face somewhat resembling Char's, but his eyes were black, and he looked much younger.
Eli frowned.
He looks familiar.
"I'm… I'm fine…" The pilot's voice was trembling, filled with fear and panic.
"Can you tell me your name?" Eli asked.
"Ah… yes. My name is Barta Pettazé. My ID number is…"
"That won't be necessary. I can't verify it anyway. Judging by your accent, are you from Sydney?" Eli smirked as he asked, as if testing a hunch.
Sure enough, Barta visibly relaxed upon hearing the question.
"Yes, that's right. It's probably snowing in Sydney now."
"Is that so? Looks like Zeon didn't teach geography very well. Or maybe you weren't paying attention in class?"
In reality, Eli wasn't entirely sure this person was who he suspected. He was simply bluffing.
But Barta was startled enough to attempt to ignite the ship's engines.
"Stop, or I can't guarantee your safety!" Eli shouted, aiming the spikes on his shield directly at the cockpit to show he wasn't bluffing.
Barta hesitated, then reluctantly removed his hands from the controls and raised them in surrender.
"I'm going to remove the blockage now. Brace yourself for turbulence and decompression."
After a humane warning, Eli retracted the EZ-SR and moved back.
"Eli-san, I've confirmed that Lieutenant McKenzie is on this ship!" Amuro's voice came through from the other side.
Eli nodded and opened a channel to White Base.
"I've captured a suspected Zeon spy. Prepare the ground forces to receive him in the hangar."
"A spy? Understood."
From the direction of the sun, a black dot gradually appeared. As it drew closer, everyone realized it was White Base.
Amuro guided the cargo ship he was checking toward White Base. Meanwhile, Eli used the EZ-SR's arms to carefully carry the damaged cargo ship in the same direction.
"I want to know, how did you figure it out?" Barta, still perplexed about how his identity had been exposed, couldn't help but ask.
"It's summer in Australia right now. Amazing, isn't it? The Earth is full of surprises," Eli replied.
"…How would I know something like that? I've lived in a colony my whole life, abandoned by the Federation."
Eli fell silent for a moment.
Judging by his age, Barta was likely a conscripted soldier—a fresh recruit. People like him, who still supported Zeon, were usually native to Zeon. Without exception, they had been indoctrinated with the belief of being "abandoned by Earth."