Defeating Golgotha's Bongrae
The first thing Jack did was rummage through the pile of scrap metal inside the transport plane. Nimrod bent its body amidst the wreckage of the burning transport. Its massive hand stirred through the skeleton of the hangar compartment, and soon, it pulled out a cylindrical object.
The Afterglow Particle Tank.
"...Oh, this one's intact. Lucky day, huh?"
Jack whistled. Origin watched the scene from the sub-seat. Jack's Advent, which hadn't formed a Covenant, couldn't receive Afterglow Particles from a Saint. That was why an external tank to supply particles was absolutely necessary to generate enough power to sink Golgotha in a single blow.
"Mokjul-ssi. I'm going to connect the particle tank. I'll be finishing the sniping procedure, so please cause a distraction so the enemies don't notice."
{Understood.}
Simultaneously with the reply, the pure white machine passed over Nimrod's head. The flight unit stored behind Pathos's shoulders deployed backward, forming a repulsion field. The pure white giant leisurely crossed the night sky. Bullets poured in from all sides, but not a single one grazed it.
{Commencing counter-fire.}
The particle cannon held in Pathos's hand deployed. A red line was drawn across the sky. Once, twice, and then the incoming barrage was erased one after another. Mokjul's firing didn't stop. Without taking any time to recharge or rest, he continued to use his armament.
"That output, that rate of fire, and that endurance..."
Jack marveled.
"To have armor plates layered like that, plus that speed and that output. Is there no problem with combat endurance?"
{No problem.}
Mokjul's reply was short. In that short interval, Pathos was diving into the heart of the enemy lines. Seven Advents chased the single pure white machine. Mokjul slid between them, toying with them, and the moment their vision tried to turn toward Jack, he naturally dispersed their attention.
Meanwhile, Bongrae, floating above in the sky, was passive. It was firing with maximum restraint because there was a risk that its own Advents would get caught up if it deployed its firepower recklessly. And just then, one unit suddenly tried to turn its head toward Nimrod. Before that head could turn, all of Pathos's missile ports opened, covering its vision with a blast of flames.
"...With that kind of firepower, why doesn't Mokjul-ssi face Golgotha directly?"
Origin asked.
"For a guy like Golgotha, which is stupidly thick and has strong firepower, a sniper rifle with superior penetration is more suitable than a weapon that hits a wide area like that."
Nimrod connected the tank's coupling.
"Of course, it's thanks to Raven telling us Golgotha's weakness. If not for that, we would've had to attack it head-on, and I don't even want to imagine that, seriously, hahaha."
"...Didn't Evan-ssi sortie carrying only an assault rifle?"
If we're talking about penetration, isn't that more of a problem? Jack chuckled at Origin's question.
"That guy is a weirdo. Wouldn't he handle it well on his own? His eyes are the real deal. Guys like that perform miracles even in absurd situations."
"You trust him quite a bit."
"That's what friendship is."
"...Haven't you only just met?"
"Haha. Is that so?"
A green light turned on the dashboard.
"Connection procedure with the particle tank complete. Deploying sniper rifle. Identifying target from now on."
Nimrod raised the rifle from the shade of the wreckage. The scope captured the massive Bongrae, the Golgotha.
"Wind speed and direction are just right. Temperature and humidity are mediocre. Well, it'd be fine if I applied corrections, but... I'll measure the target's relative movement speed."
Jack's muttering grew lower.
"No equipment to assist with ballistic calculations, I'll just wing it with mental math."
His breathing began to slow. The interval between inhalation and exhalation stretched long, and the trembling of his fingertips gripping the dashboard subsided. Origin held her breath. Just by watching from behind, she could tell. That in this man's world right now, there was only himself and that Bongrae.
Just then.
{...Jack, your position has been compromised. An enemy unit is heading your way.}
"Jack!"
Origin shouted. However, there wasn't even a twitch in Jack's expression. Mokjul's warning, Origin's scream, the approaching threat. He paid attention to none of it. It was transcendental concentration.
And his trigger was pulled.
A gunshot rang out, and the bullet flew. At that moment, red wings unfolded from the lower part of Bongrae. Wings of Light, dozens of them, overlapped like a shield. The bullet lightly pierced the wings. One sheet, two sheets, three sheets. But it lost speed with every piercing, and by the time it reached the hull, it had become useless.
Sparks flew from the armor surface, and the bullet bounced off Golgotha's armor.
"...Using Wings of Light as a shield. You nasty bastard."
Jack clicked his tongue. The enemy's immediate retaliatory attack followed. Bongrae's batteries all turned toward Nimrod at once, and one Advent rushed from the formation toward where the transport wreckage was.
"The enemy is coming!"
The enemy machine, having drawn its blade, fell toward Nimrod. The speed of an Advent rushing at supersonic speeds. Outside the range where an Advent without a Covenant could react—but Jack's hand grazed over the dashboard.
[Particle tank power, temporary distribution to drive system.]
Nimrod disappeared. One second. For exactly one second, having received Afterglow Particles in its drive system, Nimrod regained the movements of an original Advent. The plunging blade sliced through empty air, and the green machine was already inside the enemy's embrace.
Click.
A machine pistol was drawn from Nimrod's waist. Jack shoved the muzzle right into the gap in the enemy machine's cockpit armor. All of this happened within one second.
And
"Our high-and-mighty Apostle-nim, shall we test your durability?"
He pulled the trigger. The muzzle embedded inside the gap spewed fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat
The place where the cockpit had been collapsed. The enemy machine, having lost its pilot, lost its strength and fell.
"...Hah. I've still got it."
After finishing those words, Jack detached and threw away the spare firearms on Nimrod's shoulders. With Afterglow Particles limited, all weapons except the sniper rifle, which he wouldn't even use, were closer to items that just ate up the machine's speed. The lightened Nimrod began to run with the particle tank tucked under its arm.
"I'm changing positions!"
{In a situation where you've already been spotted once, how do you intend to snipe?}
Mokjul's question returned.
{Now the remaining six units will all be aiming for you.}
"Since they deployed the Wings of Light on such a massive scale, there's bound to be a slight delay! In that gap, I'll approach right underneath it and strike the keel directly!"
{Throwing yourself into the tiger's mouth, are you.}
After a beat of silence, Mokjul's voice continued.
{I like it.}
Pathos's maneuvers changed. As if the maneuvers until just now had been child's play, the pure white machine boldly pierced through the center of the enemy formation. And in front of the six units, it flicked its fingertips.
{Your opponent is me.}
It was an obvious provocation. The enemy Apostles must have all understood that it was a ploy to take their eyes off Jack. Yet, they took the bait. The more experienced and decorated the Apostles were, the more important pride was over strategy. They must have all been confident that they could tear that one loud-mouthed unit to shreds in an instant and go help Bongrae afterward.
The six units formed a formation and rushed at Pathos. Meanwhile, Jack slid into the shadow of Bongrae. Above his head, Bongrae's distress signal rang out pitifully, but no one listened. Every single Kyungdanryeon Apostle in this sky was now blinded by the urge to kill Mokjul.
Nimrod stopped. The rifle aimed vertically at the belly of the hull.
[Afterglow Particle remaining amount—Limit.]
The warning light blinked red. Due to the earlier maneuvers and firing, the tank was showing the bottom. If he fires this one shot, it's over. There is no next time. Origin's hands gripped the seat. Her heart was pounding like crazy.
But the man with his finger on the trigger showed no signs of tension. It was a face that didn't even consider the possibility of missing. His breathing slowed.
And
Paaang!
The last bullet was fired. A pillar of fire rose from the lower part of Bongrae. The smoke cleared, and the hull was revealed.
Bongrae was... perfectly fine.
"...Don't tell me, it missed—"
Before Origin could finish her sentence, Jack put away the rifle.
"Destruction complete."
Before the echo of those words could fade. A heavy sound rang out from the center of Bongrae's hull. It was the sound of the keel breaking. The hull, which had been like a mountain range, couldn't withstand its own weight and folded from the middle. As the supporting axis collapsed, the upper batteries poured down, and the tilted giant body collapsed straight toward the ground.
Impact.
The mobile fortress Bongrae became a mountain of shattered wreckage, breathing its last on the land of Timor.
{...As expected. You have potential too.}
A hint of acknowledgment was buried in Mokjul's voice.
And the moment Jack succeeded in the snipe, the atmosphere of the enemies changed. The six Advents simultaneously gave up on dealing with Mokjul and turned their noses toward Jack. Anger could be felt in their movements.
It was a rage that was too late to be of any use, but... it was understandable to be angry. The only mothership that could return to the mainland across thousands of kilometers of ocean had just become scrap metal. If until now it had been a matter of pride, from now on it was a matter of survival. Now, all that remained for them was hatred and resentment toward the man who had left them stranded and doomed to die in the heart of Southern Cross territory.
"...This is a bit troublesome."
Cold sweat flowed down Jack's temple. There are no bullets. The tank is empty. Mokjul poured out suppression fire from the rear, but the six units, blinded by rage, didn't even look that way anymore.
Just before the six Advents could ravage Jack.
Then.
A platinum light flashed in the sky. Jack looked up in that direction. And chuckled. One line was floating on the identification panel of the dashboard.
[Advent Logos - Apostle Raven.]
"This bastard... he already finished up and came."
The light pierced the sky and fell. The leading Advent couldn't avoid the descent. The place where the cockpit had been was blown away entirely, and the machine collapsed. The identity of that light was a jet-black Advent. Logos, with its armor scorched in places, landed on the ground while aiming its sharp shield at the enemies.
{I finished early, so I came to help out.}
It was a very welcome voice.