Editing KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 11===

In this era where Minovsky Particles could render electronic weapons ineffective, the concept of guided missiles had long vanished from the battlefield. The times where guided missiles that would not let go of their targets, the era of the button wars had become a relic. This battlefield that could be seen before the Middle Ages was brought up to space as both sides fought it out while being able to see each other’s locations. The mobile suit that was at the front acted as a cavalry, while the ship at the back took on the role of moving its base. The missiles in this era would be less effective than even flaming arrows if the ships do not engage in close combat.

Even so, production of long-ranged missiles had never ceased even till this point, and the missiles viewed as important armaments for navigating ships. The concept was similar to the cavalry battles of the old ages, where throwing weapons were often viewed as treasures. Even though they could not use radar navigation to do precision attacks, the missiles would fly right at the targets once they caught sight of the enemy’s locations and determine the course for impact. The missiles, if used with conjunction with the rockets that could not be controlled when fired, would be very threatening in terms of distance and destructiveness. In particular, two direct hits from large anti-ship missiles could sink a battleship.

At this point, these anti-ship long-ranged missiles passed through the shoal space region and hit the debris of the colony where the Nahel Argama was hiding in. based on initial observations and the L1 basic coordinates that were derived after some time, it showed that 12 missiles were shot out from a Rewloola-class. 4 missed their target, while the remaining 8 hit the outer wall of the of the old colony debris, igniting the explosives that were filled within.

Blueish-white flashes continued to appear and expand, each expanding as the impacts collided with eac other. The 8 fireballs converged with each other, covering the debris of the colony. The supersonic impact caused the outer wall to be partially shed off, and the massive heat melted the materials. The common drainage built underneath were ripped apart, and the energy that crushed the buried dirt to break through the other debris, spurting through the inner walls.

The debris field had still had artificial land mass since the War before, and for a moment, looked to be surrounded by smoke. It was an impact tremor that could be felt from right below, as the dust that was on the building or ground—small particles that piled up after many years of floating in space—danced around. Also, the flash that appeared from underground was leaked out through the gaps of the earth plates, showing a chessboard-like network that spanned 1km of debris. Red flames shot out a second later like lava flowing, eroding the debris in the vacuum, and depicting the scene of uprooting perfectly.

[[Image:KSGU3 135.jpg|thumb]]

The Nahel Argama had kept its scout camera ball, which was used for outside surveillance, back in, and intended to leave the debris. This was a shocking thing to them. The scout camera ball was a complex sensor that was operated through long cables, and was originally tossed outside amidst the debris to act as a coordinate where the ship could see its blind spot. The Nahel Argama kept it to move, and basically lost its eyes that could see what was going on inside the debris for the time being, while the missiles seemed to rush here at this precise moment.

The debris that was floating in the silence of vacuum suddenly corroded, causing a large amount of debris that flew to hit the bottom of the Nahel Argama, and the uprooted street lights and half-wrecked electric cars hit the ship directly with blazing trails. The giant ship that was almost 400m long was obvious shaken as all the items that were not fastened within the ship were all flying. The crew started bouncing several times between the ceiling and the floor. The gravity block was no exception as Banagher and the dining tray were sent flying, Takuya and Micott slammed into the wall, and Audrey held onto the foot of the table. Mihiro beside them took the internal phone of the recreation room, but was knocked together with the receiver into the air by the continuous shaking. Banagher grabbed onto Mihiro’s waist to catch her, and both of them slammed together into the monitor panel on the wall.

Daguza was slammed into the ceiling of the corridor, while Alberto was curled up like a ball as he fell in the room he made his own. The cranes and the frames let out metallic cries that sounded like they were going to snap. Gibney and the other maintenance soldiers were moving all over the place in response to this. Norm, Riddhe and the other pilots leapt into their own cockpits. There were equipment that could not be used, starting with the anti-air machine guns that took direct damage from the debris, but the bridge had to confirm the damage of the ship later. They were already on standby, but First Officer Liam and the others who had not put on normal suits were thrown off the chairs. Captain Otto ended up having his head crash into the ceiling.

Cries and grunts caused the cries and all the noise to be messed up within his skull that was numb with pain. The scolding hot debris grazed past the front window of the bridge, and numerous red vestiges entered their eyes. It looked like the top of an erupting volcano—

“ENGINE ACCELERATE! EMERGENCY RETREAT!”

Liam finally managed to sit back in her chair and shouted out this command without waiting for the captain to make a decision. The steering crew member recited the order and turned the steering wheel into the designated direction. The bow of the Nahel Argama lifted by almost 90 degrees, and Otto, who saw that the ship was heading up through the colony debris, recognized Liam’s immediate decision in this situation. He also had the thought of accelerating forward to escape, but the rubble was scattering, and they were trying to limit the hit area to the smallest possible. The Nahel Argama left the colony debris and managed to escape with the scattered debris hitting the stern of the ship.

“CHECK THE NUMBER OF CASUALITIES! HURRY! WHAT’S THE AIR SURVEILLANCE DOING!?”

Otto shook off the heavy impact his head took as he started yelling. He received the normal suit from the warrant officer waiting on the bridge. “There’s no sign of any enemy around!” The sensor operator’s growl entered Otto’s ears.

“The guess is that the attack came from outside the radar range.”

“Impossible. Look for it. There’s definitely an enemy disguised as a debris out there nearby.”

Otto slipped his legs into the normal suit and pulled the zip. The sounds of the rubble hitting the ship could still be heard. The remains of the colony below them were gradually crumbling as he saw the saw of it scattering everywhere through the monitor.  He then turned his eyes on the searching sensors located on the left flank of the ship. There were direct hits from the anti-ship missiles—and it was not just 2, 3 hits. There was definitely an enemy ship that fired countless missiles from very close distance. It was less than a minute since they kept the scout camera ball and reduced their detection ability. It was basically impossible for an enemy ship to get close, fire missiles and retreat back outside the radar.

“It’s not guided missiles from the radar era we’re talking about here. It’s impossible for missiles to be so accurate once they’re fired and control is lost, and from that distance too…”

Otto unwittingly said these words, and felt a chill on his back. ''An attack from afar. If there are no signs of enemies nearby, this is the only thing we can deduce. If we use outer space as a background, the enemy ship will merely be a speck of dust. There’s only one way to shoot from outside the radar range and into a 1km radius full of debris. That will be to deduce the absolute coordinates of the target and clear all obstacles in the way before shooting off all the missiles.''

''That’s right. The enemy knows where we are exactly. I carelessly used the main cannon just now because of the trouble with the Salamis-class rubble and revealed our location—

“We’ve been had.”

Liam, who looked like a bear as she was wearing the normal suit, whispered beside the captain seat. Otto saw the tense look from the side of the First Officer’s face and wordlessly looked forward. “High-heat object, closing in rapidly!” Shocked, he lifted his head once he heard the voice of the sensor operator.

“4 targets, coming in from above the ship. Estimated time before reaching, T-minus 3.3”

''It’s different from the first wave attack coordinates. We’re surrounded.'' Otto temporarily left aside this worst case scenario as he asked, “Missiles again!?”

“No, this movement is of a mobile suit, but…”

The stuttering voice showed fear. Otto looked at the back of the sensor operator from behind Liam’s shoulder.

“It’s unreasonable for it to fly through the debris at such a speed. A unit leading the squad is moving in 3 times faster than the mobile suits behind!”

The sensor operator lifted his head from the control panel, looking rather pale as he turned to the Captain’s seat. “What did you say..?” Otto felt his muttering mouth widen as he stared at the sensor image.

The unidentified unit left behind the units at the back as it flickered mysteriously. ''It’s a completely different unit from the ‘Sleeves’ mobile suits before, including that four-winged—''Otto heard his skin give off goosebumps as he unwittingly grabbed onto the armrest of the Captain’s seat.