"Can you share your battle plan with me?"
Upon hearing the other party's tacit agreement, He Kui continued speaking.
"..."
Murrue, after weighing her thoughts, replied.
"I don't know the specifics, but disrupting their command system is our mission. If we have your assistance, we would be immensely grateful."
Murrue's voice carried a hint of tension, but more so, it was resolute.
"Of course, no problem."
"According to my calculations, they still have three Sub-ships left. As long as we can destroy these three ships, their battlefield communications will suffer a fatal blow."
"Of course, this won't last long, considering that battleship of yours is still operational."
"That's enough."
As the two spoke, the Archangel and Dominion had already met from a distance.
Missiles and beams fired from both sides were all blocked by the light shield, and the Archangel even provided cover for the Orb ships behind it.
This is the strategic role of the light shield; aside from using MS for close combat to break through or employing electronic warfare, or depleting power, they had no other means to penetrate this light shield.
"Then, please have the maintenance crew prepare. The Mobile Suit needs resupply, and do you have any other underwater long-range weapons available?"
While torpedoes are powerful, having only six of them is hardly useful.
"We have a Sonic Cannon and a 75mm machine gun."
"Give them all to me."
Hearing this, He Kui let out a sigh of relief; having other armaments was good.
"Sure thing."
As they spoke, taking advantage of the temporary halt in attacks, He Kui maneuvered the Mobile Suit into the Archangel's hangar.
This wasn't his first time entering, but last time he had directly taken Cagalli and Skygrasper and fled, and today was slightly different.
He was here for maintenance.
"Get down."
Seeing the familiar yet strange maintenance crew member cursing as he changed his hands, He Kui said to Cagalli.
"No! Your mission is to protect me, right?"
"...But isn't it almost the same for you to be here? Plus, it's really cramped."
He Kui retorted.
"Not the same!"
"And this is my Mobile Suit!"
What if this hard-won reinforcement ran away?
Thinking of this, Cagalli clutched Aegis's cloak even tighter, showing no intention of letting go like a raccoon.
"Fine."
He Kui said as he operated the control panel in front of him to connect with the new arm.
"But how do you have two Assaults?"
According to the original plan, Rouge Strike should have been using the exploded Strike Remastered, right? "Of course, we made it."
Cagalli replied as if it were obvious.
"Alright then."
Orb indeed had obtained complete data on the Assault, so recreating one wasn't a difficult task.
Setting that detail aside for now, the loading of He Kui's arm was quickly completed.
"The equipment has been repaired; let Cagalli down."
Director Erica's voice came at the right moment.
"I don't want to!"
Cagalli said the same to Erica.
"..."
At this moment, Erica was also speechless, just like He Kui.
"Well, she said that."
He Kui shrugged.
"Take good care of her."
Erica helplessly instructed He Kui.
"Don't worry."
Without further chit-chat, He Kui quickly ejected from the open hatch into the sea.
Not long after returning to the battlefield, a Mobile Suit of the same model approached the two.
"I've heard the specifics."
"Do you have a clue about the remaining three ships?"
Mu still appeared nonchalant, looking somewhat relaxed.
"I do."
He Kui said as he synchronized the data to Mu's computer.
"Well, it's a bit challenging."
"After your unexpected attack, they have already reinforced that area."
"Destroying the remaining three won't be that simple."
Mu analyzed, and the computer in front of He Kui displayed the intelligence Mu had just gathered.
Originally, he was looking for the command ship, but he didn't expect He Kui to be so quick.
But the data was still useful.
Looking at the submarine surrounded by several escort teams, He Kui wasn't too surprised.
"Shall we go together?"
Mu asked.
When He Kui had charged into the submarine, Mu was still entangled with others, so he was unaware of He Kui's brilliant achievements.
At this moment, he was very worried about He Kui getting himself killed and bringing the princess along.
"Splitting up is more efficient; I'll handle the two ships on the left."
His strength should be about on par with Mu's.
But he had a skill that ensured accuracy, allowing him to clear through the enemy's tactics faster than Mu.
"..."
Hearing He Kui's confidence, Mu furrowed his brows deeply.
After all, in the entire mercenary world, only a few top mercenary groups, like the Serpent Tail, could accomplish such feats.
In contrast, this mercenary group didn't even have a name.
Mu thought he wanted to say something more, but he saw that unknown mercenary had already revved up and sped towards the target.
"..."
Forget it, that person does have a point.
After all, time was pressing; he should quickly clear that side before moving on.
Perhaps influenced by his concern for the princess's safety, Mu unleashed a burst of energy, swiftly shooting down several Forbidden units, successfully plunging his blade into the heart of that submarine.
"Haah."
"Next is to provide support."
Before he could finish, a pink and blue Mobile Suit appeared before him.
"I took care of it; I was hoping to come help you."
"..."
Hearing He Kui's words, Mu opened his mouth, seeing the signals of the other two submarines had disappeared from the radar without him noticing, but he couldn't find his voice.
Such a strong mercenary? Where did he come from?
Mu's brow furrowed slightly; he wasn't happy but rather grew more vigilant towards the other party.
He was clearly on guard against He Kui's sudden intervention.
"Then let's head back for now."
Kira faced the Forbidden; although they were both new models, he was still under-armed, and that Mobile Suit's ability to distort beams was too sinister.
They needed to hurry back to resupply and support Kira; that was the priority.
Meanwhile, on the Dominion, chaos reigned.
"Misai, Cade, Tait, all signals have disappeared!"
Listening to the radar operator's tense voice, Bargirrle's face could no longer be described as serious.
It was completely dark.
Without the command ship, they had lost all control over the front lines except for the retreat signal.
"Retreat!"
Bargirrle said decisively.
"What are you talking about!?"
"We've only lost a few submarines!"
Muruta loudly refuted Bargirrle's decision, clearly dissatisfied.
"Even if we no longer have control over the frontline soldiers, they will still attack."
"Whoever runs will be shot, right?"
Hearing Muruta's words, the crew on the bridge simultaneously felt a surge of anger.
However, with Muruta's overwhelming presence, they could only seethe in silence.