Phase 4: Freedom Fight

Play song: Hajimari ga Yue
Ths stolen Gundam flexed its wings and thrusted off.
As it did, an immense explosion detonated under the ruined base.
An expanding sphere of hot plasma consumed everything still on the ground, including both side's MS. They barely had time to scream before the blast reached them.

"NNNOOOO!" Akira screamed, on their behalf.

Then, he realised: Freedom was escaping.
Providence activated its giant beam sabre and swooped down from its vantage point. The funnels launched.

"I...I...I'll KILL YOU!"

The funnels emitted unbroken green lines of subatomic destruction.

Freedom effortlessly dodged all of them, its form wavering and finally disappearing altogether as the Heavy Mirage Colloid kicked in.

Maddened, Akira fired wildly, shattering milliennia-old rock formations as he raced towards the last visual point of reference for Freedom. Debris flew.

But no sign of Freedom.

Akira bought Providence to a halt just above the ruined base, where fires smouldered and the ground was charred, recalling the funnels as he did. Eyelens sensors flashed as Providence activated active scanning.

End song
"Come out! Stop being a coward!" he shouted.
Play song: GAIA x CHAOS x ABYSS
Freedom appeared from behind Providence, drawing a beam sabre.
It slashed forward...

Only to find it had missed. Akira did a excellent 180-degree twist and turn, aimed the hand-held cannon, and fired in one fluid move.
Freedom ducked the shot just in time, vanishing once more.

"A game of cat-and-mouse, eh? But who is the cat, and who is the mouse?" Akira asked himself.

Freedom appeared, fired off a rifle shot, and disappeared, only to reappear from another random direction. The enemy pilot repeated this process several times, the shots all blocked or dodged by Providence.

"Damn. Freedom's too fast! Gotta neutralise its Mirage, or else this could go on forever," Akira decided, as Providence evaded another shot.

The DRAGOON System activated, and the funnels rocketed outward.
Providence fired every single ranged weapon it had, sweeping the lancing lines of death to cover every arc of movement.

One beam impacted directly onto Freedom's shield. It dissipated the Mirage Colloid surrounding the shield, making it visible.

Seeing this, Akira poured the rest of his firepower in that direction.
The beams impacted all around the Freedom, shattering the earth and throwing up a huge column of dust, engulfing Freedom within it.

When the dust cleared, Freedom was covered in the reddish Martian soil.

"I can track it now," proclaimed Akira, smugly.
End song

Play song: Fly! Freedom!"
The enemy pilot, realising the Mirage Colloid was moot, deactivated it.
Shunting power, Freedom activated HiMat mode and deployed its formidable cannons. They fired.

Collecting his funnels, Akira threw Providence into a series of evasive manuevers, firing back all the time.

The two Gundams traded cannon fire up and down the ravine. Plasma and other forms of deadly radiation beams ravaged the landscape.

Akira was finding it difficult controlling the funnels in such an enclosed space. Freedom was pressing the attack, setting up sustained multi-cannon burst-fire from all sides, constantly jockeying for a better angle.

Two of Providence's funnels were hit and destroyed.
A well-placed rifle shot shattered the hand-held cannon.

Akira countered with a beam web, forcing Freedom to break off.
End song

Play song: Mission Kaishi
"Shoot. Looks like I have no choice."
He depressed a touch-button.

The surviving funnels shimmered, and became invisible, leaving in their places Mirage projections of Providence.

Akira attacked.

To the enemy, it was as if there were 10 Providences attacking.
Each time Freedom got a good lock on one, it would dart away and another would attack from another direction.

The enemy pilot panicked and turned Freedom to flee.
Bad choice.

The real Providence drew its beam sabre, charged, and slashed out the main thruster. Freedom plummeted to the ground, landing heavily on its back.

The pilot got out and ran for it. He only got about 10 metres away before he was splashed all over the Martian valley by an overenthusiastic and trigger-happy Akira with CIWS guns.

"Control, this is Akira Nara. Freedom down."