Chapter 238: Iron and Blood (Part VI)
"It must be Kudelia Aina Bernstein who brought Gjallarhorn here! We're finished—she's going to get us all killed along with her!"
The moment Maruba understood the reason for Gjallarhorn's attack on CGS, his panic worsened. He didn't even care about the valuables in the safe anymore.
"I've got to get out of here! There's probably nothing worth much in that safe anyway. Forget it—escaping comes first!"
Suddenly regaining his composure, Maruba turned to Yasushi and said coldly, "Go fetch that Kudelia Aina Bernstein lady. If things go south and we can't get away, we'll hand her over to Gjallarhorn."
Yasushi grinned wickedly. "Heh-heh-heh, you're brilliant, boss. I'll go right now."
…
Meanwhile, in Hangar One, Mikazuki's report had just come in—the enemy had been confirmed as Gjallarhorn.
Orga confronted Hilda. "Why would Gjallarhorn attack us?"
Hilda looked utterly lost. "How the hell should I know? Who knows why Gjallarhorn's here! Quit talking and get ready to move out already!"
Orga, calm but sharp, pressed further. "What about First Squad? What's the main unit going to do? How are we supposed to coordinate?"
Hilda hadn't thought about any of that. The First Squad had no intention of fighting—they just wanted to run. He stammered awkwardly, "Uh, we'll… swing around from behind and attack from the rear—yeah, a pincer attack! So before that, you guys need to hold the enemy back."
"Got it?" Not daring to say more and risk revealing his plan to flee, Hilda turned and quickly left the hangar.
Watching them go, Eugene sighed helplessly. "Looks like we're on our own." He climbed into his mobile worker.
Beside him, Biscuit adjusted his cap and said quietly, "I just detected an Ahab wave reaction that doesn't match any of our reactors.
If the enemy really is Gjallarhorn… there's a chance they've brought a mobile suit."
At that, Orga's face darkened immediately. He fell silent, deep in thought, his mind racing.
Eugene's voice broke through his concentration. "Orga, come on, we don't have time!"
With no other choice, Orga made a risky call. "Biscuit, I need you to do something for me.
Take the young lady somewhere safe—somewhere like the power room. Don't let Maruba's people hand her over to Gjallarhorn.
If she dies or gets captured, we're finished.
I'll tell the old man to get that machine repaired as fast as possible—make it operational.
Once you've got her secured, go up the hill and keep an eye on First Squad's movements."
He handed Biscuit a small remote control. "I installed some remote signal flare launchers on the First Squad's mobile workers earlier. Just in case they try to run, you'll know what to do."
"You mean you want me to…?" Biscuit's expression hardened. He didn't finish the sentence, but after a pause, nodded firmly. "Understood. Don't worry—I'll take care of it."
His plump body waddled off at surprising speed.
Watching him leave, Orga finally relaxed a little and climbed onto Eugene's mobile worker, ready to command the battle himself.
On the battlefield, Mikazuki maneuvered his mobile worker nimbly, dodging a hail of enemy fire.
After all, a mobile worker didn't have an Ahab reactor or nanolaminate armor—one direct hit from a shell, and it was done for. It was basically a moving coffin.
Even so, Mikazuki fired his machine gun and cannon relentlessly, attacking the oncoming Gjallarhorn forces.
He spun, drifted, and rotated mid-battle, striking enemies in every direction and covering his teammates, intercepting any enemy units that got too close.
But even Mikazuki wasn't superhuman—several of his comrades in Third Squad were too far for him to save, and their machines were blasted to pieces.
When Orga arrived, he immediately reorganized the surviving forces, pulling them back into formation. He consolidated their firepower, concentrating their attacks on the advancing Gjallarhorn mobile workers to thin their numbers.
Elsewhere, Biscuit reached Kudelia's quarters.
"Kudelia, come with me! We're evacuating to a safe location!" he said as he burst in, grabbing the now fully dressed Kudelia by the arm and pulling her down the hallway toward the power room.
Flustered, Kudelia called out as they ran, "Where are you taking me? I have to wait for Fumitan to come back!"
"If you stay there, you'll die!" Biscuit snapped.
That word—"die"—froze Kudelia in terror. "D-die? Am I going to die?"
"That's why we're trying to make sure you don't!"
Moments later, they burst into the power room. Kudelia's eyes widened in astonishment as she saw the Barbatos Gundam restrained against the wall, being used as part of the base's reactor system.
Inside, Nadi was furiously working to restore the Gundam, with Takaki rushing back and forth to hand him tools and parts.
Kudelia wanted to help, but there was nothing she could do—her attempts were met with irritation, leaving her standing off to the side, helplessly watching them work.
At the same time, Yasushi arrived at Kudelia's quarters—but he was too late. The room was empty. He stood there dumbfounded, unsure how to explain this to his boss.
He rushed back to Maruba's office to report. After a brief exchange, they decided they couldn't wait any longer. While Third Squad was still holding back Gjallarhorn's fire, they would make their escape immediately.
Once Biscuit had completed his mission, he opened a communicator. "Orga, do you copy?"
"I hear you. Biscuit? How did it go?"
Standing on a small hill overlooking the battlefield, Biscuit spotted the First Squad and Maruba's group fleeing in two separate directions. "Orga, bad news—it's just like we feared. First Squad and the boss are splitting up and running away through the back exit."
Eugene overheard and shouted, "Hey, Orga! What are we supposed to do now? If we keep this up, we're just throwing our lives away!"
But Orga only smiled. "No—you're wrong."
"What? That doesn't make any sense!"
Orga's grin widened. "I'm right, aren't I, Biscuit?"